


The Addersfield Chronicles

by livesbywords



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 51,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25702816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livesbywords/pseuds/livesbywords
Summary: This is an ongoing project that I am making to practice my world building, action scenes, and romance.The Addersfield Chronicles follows the story of Emmy, Victor, and Cadence, the closing crew at the local diner, who travel to another world to find Emmy's fiancé, Eli, in hopes they can bring him home.This is also a reader-driven story, so if you have any suggestions or would like to see these characters get into a certain situation, feel free to leave it in the comments below and I will try to incorporate it into a later episode.





	1. Episode 1 - Pilot

Emmy walked into the diner, late as usual. It was the lace. Always the lace that made her late. If only she didn’t have that little voice in her head telling her each seam had to line up perfectly. Thankfully, her tardiness lined up perfectly with her boyfriend’s tardiness as well. The diner itself was unusually empty. Friday nights typically had a large enough diner rush to keep everyone busy. Emmy remembered the times she spent rushing around taking orders, cleaning tables, and greeting customers. A small part of her wanted to forget that, but the chime of the bells at the front door wouldn’t let her forget a single movement. She still had moments of panic if a customer started to get frustrated or spilled something on the floor, as if she was still the one responsible to take care of it, all with a smile on her face.  
“Hi, welcome to Doc’s. How many-- Emaline! For one? I can get you our finest--”  
“Stop it, Victor. You know it’s for two. And don’t call me Emaline.”  
Emmy retaliated a tired look to his perky smile.  
“Fine, Emmy. Table for two. Eli isn’t here yet,” Victor said, writing her name on the sheet along with her party number. He had grabbed a couple of menus, as if Emmy didn’t know the entire thing by heart, and walked her to a booth near the kitchen. As Emmy sat, she took the menus from him and slid them off to the side. Victor took this opportunity to fill in the empty seat across from her, despite not being invited to do so.  
“Victor, you can’t sit at a table while you’re working.”  
“The boss ain’t around. Live a little, would ya? I’m keeping the seat warm for loverboy. What are you all dressed up for anyway?” Victor asked, throwing his arms on top of the back of the seat.  
“It’s our anniversary. Now scram,” Emmy had spat, gesturing him to leave as if he was a small mouse or bird.  
“Man, the guy couldn’t even splurge for your anniversary?”  
Everyone knows that Table 42 is the only place for fancy events in Addersfield. They have wine and cloth napkins. Doc’s Diner has sticky menus and mismatched chairs.  
“Eli wanted to go where we had our first date. Why do you always have to be so annoying? Can you just do your job before he gets here?” Emmy said, her nose literally in the air.  
“What? You don’t want him seeing me sitting with you?” he asked, leaning towards Emmy with a toothy smile.  
“Victor, time to go,” Eli said as he loomed over the table. Emmy was perfectly pleased that Eli was there to stop everything. Victor, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and slid out of the booth.  
“I’ll send Chrissy over to take care of the lovebirds. Happy anniversary,” Victor told them and walked off.  
“Sorry about… him?” Emmy said and stood up to embrace her boyfriend.  
“I’m used to it by now,” Eli always said. Any time they came into the diner, it was always something with Victor. Since Emmy and Victor had been friends for so long, Eli learned to ignore the antics ever since he and Emmy started dating. Usually an easy way to get her mind off of it was to compliment her. “You look really nice.”  
“Thank you. Happy anniversary,” Emmy said with a soft romantic smile.  
“Happy anniversary.” Eli kissed her softly and they both sat down. “How was your day?”  
“Productive. However, I was a little bit late to our date because of that pesky--”  
“Lace.” They said at the same time and Emmy laughed.  
“Am I really that predictable?”  
“When it comes to sewing, pretty much,” he said and Chrissy came around for drinks.  
“Coffees for us both please,” Eli said to her without even opening a menu.  
“Coffees, huh? Might pair badly later with the—” Chrissy could say things without thinking a lot of the time.  
“Chrissy,” Eli cut her off, eyebrows raised.  
“Right. Right. Coffees it is,” she said and ran to the back without saying another word. Her guilty expression raised question in Emmy.  
“What was she talking about?” Emmy wanted to know everything. Was Eli trying to keep something from her? Why would he tell Chrissy before her?  
“Nothing, nothing. Emmy, hey, you look really lovely tonight,” Eli said, grabbing Emmy’s hands as a way to distract her. It didn’t work.  
“Okay, you are all being really weird. Did you plan a surprise?”  
“It is our anniversary. Am I not allowed to plan surprises?”  
“Alright, I’ll play along. What are we ordering?” Emmy picked up the menu and peered over the same items that have been there for years and had been in her head for almost four of them.  
“Let’s get the steaks,” he declared, putting down his menu.  
“Steaks, really? But they are so expensive.” Emmy didn’t feel they should be spending money on steaks that weren’t even high-quality. She’d rather spend her money on new fabrics or a nice pair of shoes. And she’d rather Eli spend his money on that car payment he had or paying off his ever increasing collection of ceramic fruits.  
“It’s a special night. Dinner is on me and I’m even going to get your favorite boysenberry pie for dessert.”  
“Dang, Eli. Treating me nice tonight, are we?”  
“Anything for my girl,” Eli said, kissing Emmy’s hand. She doubted for a moment that he was only doing that to either hide something or distract her from something, but clearly he had other plans in mind so she played along. They ordered their food, went through the normal date routine of talking about the day, laughing at a few inside jokes, and complaining about coworkers and the weather. Chrissy continued to get more suspicious and giggly as they got closer and closer to dessert. After she had served them the boysenberry pie, Chrissy was watching from the kitchen as they ate.  
“I feel like the vibe here suddenly changed. There’s not gonna be like a shark tank or someone popping out of a cake. Or a shark popping out of the cake, is there?” Emmy asked as she took a forkful of warm pie.  
“Why is it that whenever I plan a surprise, you immediately assume it has to do with a cake or a shark?”  
“Because you know I like both of those things, and I just really want it to be a shark one day.”  
“Well, maybe one day I will surprise you with a shark, but today is not one of those days so keep your expectations low.”  
“Darn,” Emmy said, snapping her fingers.  
“You know, Emmy, this is our third anniversary. Pretty special if you ask me.”  
The diner around them didn’t quit moving. People were eating, looking over menus, and chatting, but the one thing that did slow down was Victor’s pencil. He had this book that he constantly made notes in, whether it be drawing, memos to himself, or poetry, if he could write it down, he did. His pencil slowed and his eyes gazed sideways at Emmy and Eli. Emmy, on the flipside, had noticed this about Victor from her seat. Now she knew that whatever was special tonight, she was the last person to hear about it.  
“Yeah, we’ve definitely been together for a long time,” Emmy had said hesitantly, taking her remaining energy to pull her eyes off of Victor and onto Eli.  
“Some would say it’s the right time to take the next step.”  
Emmy’s focus all rushed towards Eli with intensity.  
“What?” she asked with a dry mouth.  
“Ever since we’ve been together, you have made me happier than I ever could be. We’ve gone through so much together as a team and I would relive each and every moment of that time if I could. Emmy, you have made me the happiest man in the world and I would be honored if you made me even happier by becoming my wife,” he said, getting up from the table and getting down on one knee. He held out a big ring. “Will you marry me?”  
Emmy was in a state of shock and honestly didn’t know what to do at first. She looked around at everyone suddenly watching and then remembered what she had to say at this moment.  
“Y-Yes,” she said with a shaky breath. Eli placed the ring on Emmy’s finger and they kissed. Everyone in the diner, even ones that didn’t want to, clapped for them. Victor tried to look at Emmy, but realised he couldn’t do it so he walked into the back. While Eli wrapped Emmy into a hug, she watched him as he disappeared around the corner.  
She was happy. She had to be happy. She was going to marry the man she loved. She was going to be bride. She was going to wear a gorgeous white dress and show everyone how much she loves Eli.  
Chrissy came forward and placed a bottle of champagne on the table.  
“Congratulations,” she whispered.  
“Oh my goodness, Eli. I didn’t even--”  
“I know,” he said with a laugh. “Best surprise yet?”  
“Yeah, it sure is. Much better than a shark,” Emmy said, pulling a genuine smile on her face.  
“Better than a shark jumping out of a cake?”  
“I don’t know about better, but a shark in a cake would be more surprising.”  
He laughed.  
“Wow, this is so exciting!”  
“I didn’t even know they had champagne,” Emmy said as they sat and took notice of the bottle.  
“They don't. I brought it beforehand and asked Chrissy to serve it after I proposed.”  
“Oh my. You proposed. We’re engaged.” Emmy ran her hands down her face with wide eyes. She looked down at the large rock on her finger and quietly squealed.

* * *

Back at Eli’s house, Emmy had just gotten off the phone with her mother. The call was difficult, but necessary. She knew they’d have to see her eventually to tell her the news in person, and knowing her mother, it’d have to be soon. The two decided to settle in with a little bit more wine than cheese and fell asleep on the couch.  
Addersfield never really had earthquakes. There might have been a few small ones that could have just been ripples of some in other parts of the state, but never really anything big. It wasn’t until Emmy woke from one that she even realised how big it actually was.  
“Eli, did you feel that?” she whispered, shaking Eli’s shoulder to wake him.  
“Hm, yeah, sleep time again,” Eli said, his voice still slurring from the wine.  
“That’s so weird. I haven’t felt one that big ever. I wonder if it was really close to us. Can we turn on the news?”  
“Mhm, sleep,” Eli said, still not opening his eyes.  
“Alright, I’ll just ask around tomorrow,” she said, letting the conversation subside. She let herself be lured in by the warmth and fell back asleep. In the morning, she drove home and got ready for work.  
After walking to work, she set down her large water bottle on the table and tried to make her new ring obvious to her coworkers, Lily and Tia. Lily and Tia had worked at the seamstress’s well before Emmy, but their goals in life weren’t as ambitious as Emmy’s were. They were however, just as pleasant of company as they could be. The problem was with their boss. The only seamstress in Addersfield good enough to make her own business out of it. For now. It was Emmy’s dream to take over and be better than that witch, Deborah. She didn’t tell Deborah this, obviously, but Emmy still tried to show the same passion and ambition as if she had told her.  
“Morning, guys,” Emmy said, wrapping her left hand around the bottle and scraping it against the desk to make it even more obvious. Both Lily and Tia did not take their eyes of their work even for a second.  
“Good morning,” they had both said.  
“Is Deborah around this morning?”  
“Not yet. She should be coming in later to correct-- I mean, nitpick our work.” Tia said and finally turned around.  
“Like this missing stitch right here,” Emmy said, reaching over and pointing to a random spot on Tia’s dress with her entire left hand.  
“What missing--” Lily started to say.  
“Oh my goodness, congratulations,” Tia squealed, grabbing my hand.  
“What? What?” Lily asked, turning around and joining the huddle.  
“Look!” Tia said, pulling Emmy’s hand and shoving it in Lily’s face.  
“Oh! How exciting!” Lily cheered.  
“Eli finally got around to it, huh?” Tia asked.  
“Yes! It was so romantic.”  
“Did he take you to Doc’s like I told him to?” Tia asked.  
“Yes, and he even brought champagne and got my favorite: boysenberry pie.” Emmy went on to explain the whole proposal story.  
“Oh, we have to start picking out the dress for your wedding,” Lily said, clapping.  
“I don’t even know what colors I want yet, let alone the dress. Besides, I want Eli here to make decisions with me,” Emmy explained.  
“Oh, you’re doing it that way.” Lily rolled her eyes.  
“What does that mean?”  
“You’re going to make the poor boy be involved with every decision, aren’t you?”  
“Well, yeah. It’s his wedding too. Plus, we’ve always been a team. You know how hard these last couple years have been with me finally getting to a place where I can have my dream job, trying to get Deborah to actually like me, and just overall dealing with my mother, he’s been the only thing making all the stress bearable. Of course he gets to make decisions with me. Besides, you know how Deborah is about working on personal projects on company time. She would fire me tomorrow if I was picking out anything for my wedding while on the clock. I’ll have to find time outside of work and time with Eli so he can make decisions too.”  
“Having even a solid two hours during the day when both you and Eli are free? Isn’t that going to be a little difficult?” Tia asked.  
“I know, but--”  
“And shouldn’t you be picking up more projects since you will need money for a big wedding?”  
“That’s true, but--”  
“And what about making time to spend quality time with him?”  
“I understand, but--”  
“And you can’t forget about your friends and all the parties we are going to throw for you,” Lily added.  
“Okay, guys. I get it. I’m busy. Eli’s busy. It’ll be hard, but I’ll make it work, I promise,” Emmy said and pulled out her latest project. “Let’s get to work, then.”


	2. Episode 2 - The Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The friend lives half in the grass  
> and half in the chocolate cake”

“Eli, we need to talk about when we are fitting all these things in,” Emmy said, following Eli around his kitchen with her planner. “It’s more crucial than ever to coordinate our schedules.”

“I know, honey, but I just got home from work and I really just want to relax.”

“I just got home from work, too, but this stuff is important.”

“Let’s order some pizza and then we can talk about our schedules, okay?” he said, sitting on the couch.

“No, Eli. We are supposed to be saving money. Plus, I need to watch what I eat if I want to look nice in that dress.”

“Emmy, you look perfect now and we can spend ten dollars to get dinner. It’s not a big deal,” he said.

“Eli, why don’t you come sit with me in the kitchen and I’ll make dinner and then we can talk about our schedule. I’ll do all the work.” Emmy was getting frustrated with him, but she knew it was her job to calm the situation. She went and wrapped him in a hug from behind.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh.

“Thank you,” she said, kissing his cheek. They both walked into the kitchen and he sat at the table while Emmy started gathering things for dinner.

“Okay, we need to first compile a guest list, pick a date, and then look at venues.” Emmy told him, cutting up carrots and potatoes.

“Don’t forget your dress,” he said.

“Right, and the girls at work- are you writing this down- wanted us to come in and pick out table settings and fabrics and such, but we need a color first.”

“How about blue and purple. They are our favorite colors and they go well together. Blue flowers are pretty and, if I say so myself, I look good in blue,” he said with a cocky smile and Emmy laughed.

“Alright, that sounds perfect. I knew making decisions together would work.”

“Okay I work in the morning on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday. I am off Sunday and Wednesday. Then I work in the evening on Thursday and Friday.”

“Hm, I’m off Saturday, but then I work midday Sunday and Monday. I have Tuesday and Wednesday off, but I’m planning to come in Tuesday evening because I know that cotillion project is going to need altering after the fitting. Then I work Thursday and Friday morning,” I explained, leaning over my planner with a dripping wooden spoon.

“Ah, nearly all conflicting schedules as usual. I feel like we had more time when you worked at the diner. Your boss was much more easygoing and she would move the schedules around so we could have the same nights off.”

“Yeah, I know, but there was a lot more people on the team at the diner, so she was able to do that. Deborah only has a few of us and needs us to stay with the schedule she can give us so we can get our projects done on time.”

“Alright, well we both have Wednesday off, so let’s try to plan for as much as we can that day. How about we do venues that day and then we do dinner with your mom so we can talk about guests lists and timing while we check off spending time with her.”

“That would work. I’ll call her tomorrow,” I said, throwing meat into the hot pan and then going to write that note down. “We have the weekend evenings for us if you’re okay with planning at your house. That way we can sit down together and decide on the details before we start involving other people?”

“That works for me, but can we please get food from like the diner or pizza? It’s the weekend,” Eli begged.

“Fine, how about I pick up food Saturday on my way over here. That way you have time to shower after work,” she offered.

“That works,” he smiled.

“When are you parents coming to town so we can tell them the news?” she asked.

“I already kind of told them today, but they said they will come out for our wedding shower whenever that is.”

“Okay, that’s fine. See? We’ve already got our plan. That wasn’t so hard,” she said, finishing writing everything down and then going back to cooking.

“No, it wasn’t. Should I put on a movie while we eat?” he asked.

“Sure, so what kind of numbers were you thinking for the guest list?” she asked, stirring the sauce.

“Emmy, you even said it yourself- we need time just to relax and be a couple. Let’s do that now. We already made plenty of decisions and we have all weekend to talk about it.”

“Okay, fine. I’m just so excited. It’s weird that a couple days ago everything was normal and now I’m getting married,” she said with a crooked smile.

“I know, but--” 

Suddenly, the ground started to shake again, a little harder than last time. Emmy held the pot of sauce as it rattle around on the stove. The plates on the table started to shake towards the edge, but Eli caught them in time. The shaking died down and stopped.

“Woah, we haven’t had earthquakes in ages and then we have two in one week?”

“That’s really strange,” Eli noted. “What’s even weirder is that I was talking to the guys who live near the outskirts of town and they said they didn’t feel the shaking at all and that’s not even hardly ten miles from here. Don’t earthquakes ripple out a lot farther than that?”

“I assume so, but it's not like they are particularly big shakes. Maybe it's a more contained area.”

“I guess we don’t know enough about earthquakes to know, but I feel like they should be able to feel it.” They finished making dinner and sat on the couch together to eat.

* * *

“Hi, I ordered food to go,” Emmy told Victor at the counter as she walked in with purpose.

“Emaline, I heard the name on the list, but I wasn’t sure if you or loverboy would be picking it up. Glad it’s you, though,” he smirked.

“Stop it, Vic. I just want my food.”

“Sorry, force of habit,” he said with his hands up. He went to the back to grab the boxes and she started getting out her card to pay.

“How’s the wedding planning going?” he asked, as he came back and took the card.

“Really well. That’s actually what we are doing tonight. Hard work deserves good food,” she told him, grabbing the card back. She took the bag and started to walk out. “See you later.”

“Emmy, wait!”

She turned around to look at Victor with a bored expression. She wanted this interaction to be as quick and short as possible. Ever since the proposal, she tried to avoid going to the diner or seeing Victor at all. However, Eli’s request for the diner’s famous meatloaf could not be subsided with a temptation for cheap pizza. Victor was waiting for Emmy to come in, so much so he took every shift he could. He hoped she couldn’t tell by the bags under his eyes and the slouch of his back that he was incredibly pained by his actions that night. However, even the pain in his heart couldn’t stop him from being silly around Emmy. She just made him want to brighten every situation and the smile on her face made all the reprimanding completely worth it.

“I’m actually really happy for you. I know I joke around a lot, but I’m glad you’re happy with Eli. Congratulations,” he said with a deeper tone than usual. Emmy was hesitant to trust his genuinity.

“Thank you, Victor. It really means a lot,” she said with a small smile.

“See you around then?”

“I’ll see you around,” she told him and walked out the front doors and drove to Eli’s house. Maybe she wouldn’t have to avoid the diner all together after all. Victor was maturing and it was a relief.

“Hey, I’m here,” Emmy said, walking in the front door.

“In the kitchen,” Eli yelled. She walked over to him as he was grabbing plates.

“How was work?” she asked, setting down the food and started splitting it up.

“Stressful, but I’m home now so it doesn’t matter,” he said. “How was the diner?”

“Fine, in and out,” she said quickly, putting the full plates on the table.

“Victor there?”

“Yeah,” she said, throwing away the trash.

“He didn’t harass you again, did he?” he asked, sitting at the table.

“He was fine,” she told him, not making eye contact and sitting at the table with her notebook. “Have you thought about how many groomsmen you want?”

“Right. Um, yeah. I guess just the three. Gus, Kevin, and Ernesto.”

“Sounds good. I know I want Tia and Lily, but I can’t think of someone for my third. Maybe your sister?”

“She lives way out of town. She wouldn’t hardly be around to help with anything. You got to pick someone practical. How about Cadence?”

“Cadence? I mean, I haven’t really spent any time with her since I stopped working at the diner. She usually works mornings when I’m working at the seamstress’.”

“If you guys typically have similar schedules, then it’s even better. You will have time to plan things with her,” Eli explained.

“I guess so. I should probably start asking her to hang out if she’s going to be my third bridesmaid. I’ll text her.” Emmy grabbed her phone and asked if Cadence wanted to hang out soon.

* * *

“So, how come all of a sudden you wanted to hang out with me? Need a job or something?” Cadence laughed as they sat at the coffee shop. The coffee shop was a strange little place. Full of the parents of Addersfield trying to get away from their morning stress. Full of artists that think sitting in a coffee shop really makes their art better. Full of teenagers that really don’t even need coffee, but think it makes them look cooler.

“No,” Emmy laughed. “I was just reminiscing with Eli and he reminded me about how we used to be such good friends when I worked at the diner, so I thought why not see if we can start hanging out more again.”

“Yeah, I do miss those days. How’s the seamstress’ anyway?”

“Pretty good. My boss there is a lot stricter than Julia, but it’s what I love to do. Making clothes that make someone’s day. It’s nice to see how even the smallest details can really make a difference.”

“That sounds nice. I’m glad you’re happy, but for the record, you seemed pretty happy at the diner too. We had fun messing around in the back, sneaking horror movies into the break room TV to scare people, staying way later than we needed to after closing just so we could get paid while messing around. We were a mischievous closing trio. It was a fun few years.”

“Thanks, but that was just teenage happiness. I started there when I first graduated high school. Besides, I needed something that didn’t keep me up till two, three in the morning. We had too much fun and then I didn’t have enough energy to spend with Eli the next morning,” Emmy reminisce.

“I guess that’s true.”

“The seamstress’ keeps me busy too but not quite the same way. Lots of important deadlines and such. Plus, my boss breathes down our necks whenever she comes in. There’s hardly time to mess around between all that.”

“Doesn’t that get kind of boring?”

“Not really. It’s a job,” I told her.

“Well, I think that’s mainly why I kept my diner job. I like having something that isn’t so high pressure. It pays the bills too. I have no need for anything more, but clearly you do. Can I see the ring?”

“Oh, yeah,” Emmy said, holding out her hand.

“Wow, it’s so pretty. Very simple and classic. And such a big rock too. Eli must love you a lot,” she said, admiring it.

“Yeah, he treats me so well,” she smiled, giddly looking down at the ring. “How’s everything going for you?”

“Pretty good. No man currently. Dropped off the last one a few months ago. He was too controlling. Didn’t need that stress.”

“I can understand that.”

“Julia has let me work mornings more now, so my evenings are free. I have time for a social life, but honestly I do miss working nights. I’m not a morning person, so it’s been hard waking up early all the time. I’m thinking of asking Julia if I can take more night shifts again. I’m sure she’ll be happy to have another closer. Victor still closes but I think him and Chrissy don’t work together as well as him and I.”

“Yeah, Chrissy seems more of a morning person.”

“Yes, she is. Victor said he caught her sleeping multiple times in the back when he had asked her to sweep the break room. I think for her sake and Victor’s sake, I need to start closing again. Plus, having these morning shifts makes me less inclined to want to work. I’d try to pick up closing shifts but then I wouldn’t be able to get up for my morning shifts.”

“Yeah, it definitely sounds like you need to go back to the old schedule. I’ve been trying to pick up more shifts at work too. Wedding stuff is going to become more and more expensive.”

“Well, if you can’t get any or just want to work an extra shift once in awhile, I’m sure Julia would love to have you back with the team.”

“Maybe. I don’t know if I’d want to go back.”

“Well, if you ever have a night when you’re off and Eli’s working, feel free to come in. We still have an extra apron for you.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

* * *

“There’s not a lot of venues in Addersfield, is there?” Emmy said, scrolling through the list she had carefully picked out on her phone.

“Well it is a really small town,” Eli said as he drove.

“There’s not a real big hotel here or any sort of rec center.”

“Well there is the high school gym, the park, the community center, and the local hotel’s conference hall.”

“Those are all so small.”

“Did you plan on having a lot of people? Our first draft of the guest list was only 80 people, Emmy.”

“I guess you’re right. It just seems kind of sad compared to things I saw online.”

“That’s because the people who post stuff online live in large cities and know hundreds of people. We don’t.”

“Yeah. Do you kind of wish you knew lots of people? Live in a big city? Stuff like that?” 

“Not really. I’m happy where I am,” he said, grabbing her hand and sent her a loving smile.

“You can park right there,” she said, pointing to an empty spot. 

Venue shopping was tedious work for Eli. It allowed Emmy to use her imagination, creating landscapes in her mind. Eli went along with her through all four venues.

“I like the community center best. What do you think?” Emmy told him.

“I’m kind of feeling the park. Might be kind of nice to have it outside.”

“Eli, it’ll be springtime by the time we have it. What if it rains?”

“Then we can put up tarps,” he shrugged.

“Hm, I like the safety of being inside. Plus then my heels won’t get stuck in the grass.”

“The park is cheaper though.”

“That’s true. Pros and cons list?”

“Sure but later. I think that’s your mom,” he said, pointing to her as she pulled into the parking lot. “Let’s go put our names in.” They went into the lobby and told Sarah how many was in the party. Emmy’s mom walked through the door and gave each of them a hug.

“Took you five days before you could see me in person. Should have come over the second you got engaged,” she reprimanded.

“Sorry, mama. But look, diamond!” Emmy told her, showing off the ring.

“Oh, big diamond. Good boy,” she said and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

“Thank you, mama. It’s nice to see you,” he said.

“Nice to see you too. Now, when is that table going to be available?” she asked, doddering over to Sarah who explained to Emmy’s mother how a restaurant works. They eventually got to sit and had to order immediately, per Mama’s request. Mama hated to wait. She was a finicky woman with no patience at all. If waiting five minutes for a table was bad, waiting three years for her daughter to marry her boyfriend was like eons.

“Dumpling soup,” mama ordered first and to the point. “Hot tea with sugars. Ice water, no lemon.”

“Um, I’ll have the salmon quesadilla, extra salsa please,” Emmy ordered next as promptly as she could.

“Any drinks?” Josie, the waitress, asked.

“Oh yeah, just a Coke, I guess.”

“More decisive,” Mama said, smacking Emmy.

“Sorry.”

“Pork off the bone with coleslaw and an Iced Tea,” Eli said, closing his menu.

“Good boy,” Mama said.

“You really had to order that?” Emmy said, looking over at him as Josie took the menus and left.

“What? It’s good,” he said.

“It just makes such a scene.”

“Don’t worry about it right now. Tell mama about the wedding plans.”

“Yes. I want to hear everything.”

“Well, I haven’t got too many things settled yet, but that’s a lot of the reason we came tonight. I wanted to go over the guest list with you,” she said to Mama, pulling out the wedding notebook.

“Of course. I need to make sure everyone you invite is acceptable. Don’t want any miscreants at your special day.”

“Mama, I don’t think we know any miscreants.”

“Nikoli plays with swords. He could be dangerous.”

“Nikoli studied swords for his job. He doesn’t play with them,” Emmy told her.

“He brings one wherever he goes, does he not?”

“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “But Nikoli isn’t on the list anyway so you don’t have to worry.”

“Fine. What about Kyler? He’s got spikes.”

“They aren’t dangerous. He’s learned to control then after that time in third grade.”

“I don’t know,” she said, glancing over the list. “Oh, that Victor. He’s at table one! He can’t be there.” She tried to grab the pencil and erase his name.

“There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s not dangerous in any way. No spikes or swords or fire,” Emmy tried to defend him.

“I know, but I don’t trust him. He’s always liked you too much.” Emmy glanced over at Eli who had a tense expression on his face.

“Mama, he has to be there. I worked with him for years. Plus, Cadence is one of the bridesmaids so I don’t want her to be there without him. It wouldn’t be fair. Besides, its my wedding day. He wouldn’t do anything.”

“Has he before?” she asked, looking up at me.

“Has he what?”

“Done something,” Eli imputed.

“No! Stop talking about this. It’s not that big of a deal,” she said, grabbing the notebook from Mama.

“I might agree with mama,” Eli said under his breath.

“What?”

“Pork off the bone!” Nikoli announced, coming to our table with the pork. Emmy wanted to gag. He pulled out his long nodachi sword and started carving the pig with the typical show. 

Emmy excused herself to the bathroom. The pork of the bone ceremony was one she did not care to watch. The mirror in the bathroom tormented her. Suddenly the white of her dress was too white and the wedding felt too sudden. It’s not like she hadn’t discussed marriage with Eli before, but that was nearly a year ago and she had given up since then. It’s mostly that life felt suddenly flipped on it end. Would asking Eli to postpone the wedding for a few months make him upset and even if he said yes, would her mother's impatience drive her insane instead?

Tears came to her eyes, but she knew she had to pull herself together. It was just all the emotions from the last week. She washed her face and went back to the table.

“The guests on the list are set. I didn’t put anyone I would think is dangerous or could ruin it in anyway. I came to you to see if you had anyone you wanted to add, not take off,” Emmy said to Mama as she sat down.

“Alright. I will think about it. Your food is getting cold,” she said and went back to her soup. Emmy hated how things didn’t affect her at all. Mama was so poised all the time.

“So, Eli, what do you think about kids?” Mama said and Emmy nearly choked on her soda.

“Mama,” she reprimanded.

“It’s an honest question,” Mama said, shrugging.

“It’s alright, Emmy. I don’t want to rule out the idea, but we are so young. I don’t think it’s going to happen right away. I want to be able to enjoy my time with Emmy just the two of us.”

“That’s nice to hear. Don’t want to rush things,” Mama said. Did the queen of not waiting just say it was a good idea not to rush? Emmy couldn’t believe it. Mama talked to Eli about what he thought would be good ideas for wedding plans and Emmy let them go back and forth with that.

“You were quiet tonight,” Eli said once they were back in the car.

“My mom is very impatient,” Emmy blurted out. Eli laughed.

“You just realized this now?”

“No, I just-- I feel like she’s making all this wedding stuff seem so urgent and scary. I was excited but now-- I don’t know. It just feels like a lot to do.”

“It is a lot to do. It doesn’t have to be scary, though. Your mom gets intense about serious subjects. Yes, we did need to finalize the guest list and pick a date, but we don’t have to do all the scary things right away. We could go cake tasting or look at table settings; stuff you like.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“You still want to get married, right?”

“Eli,” she said, looking at him. There was a pause. “There isn’t anything I want more in the world.”

“That’s good,” he smiled. “I want that too.”

“Can we do cake tasting right now?”

“You really love cake.”

“I really love cake. Maybe even more that you,” she teased.

“I probably love cake more than you too,” he said and they both laughed. “However, it’s almost ten and I don’t think cake shops are typically open that long. How about pie at the diner?”

“How about ice cream and your couch?”

“That sounds even better,” he said and drove off towards the corner store. They went through the rigorous fingerprint, optical, and blood tests before walking into the corner store, but they eventually got ice cream and went home.

* * *

Emmy walked into her house, dropping her bags where she stood. The room felt different. It felt like it was something out of her reach. How does life go from feeling so good to so bad in such a quick period of time? She changed into her pyjamas and went to her bed. Emmy reached for her phone. There was a message from Cadence, something about the farmers market. She ignored it and went straight for the dial screen. She pressed one and it went right to Eli’s number. It rang and then he picked up.

“Hey, babe. I’m at work. Is it quick?” he said with heavy breaths.

“Eli,” she said, her words unable to come across without her voice cracking. “I need you.”

“What? Wait, what’s going on?”


	3. Episode 3 - To Relive A Past That Delights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “With a sweetened presentation,  
> And the use of dimmed colorized lights.  
> Appetizers to appeal and nostalgia to invite,  
> A sense to relive a past that delights..”

“What happened?” Eli asked Emmy as he rubbed her back. She flipped over on her bed and watched his face. He was covered in soot and still in his work clothes. He had come straight from the mines and got to Emmy’s house as fast as he could. The thought of how good a guy Eli was cleared Emmy’s mind.

“I got fired,” she told him. He immediately went to wrap Emmy in a hug.

“What? How? What happened?”

“It was yesterday. She caught me working on bridesmaid dresses for my girls.”

“You already started working on them?”

“No, just sketches. I got carried away and she caught me.”

“How could you get fired over something as small as that?”

“I shouldn’t have picked up the shift. I should have just stayed home and worked on it there.”

“Damn that Katelyn. Are you sure you can’t talk to her about it?”

“No, there is nothing I can do. She hates my guts. If I go back and something like that happens again, Lily and Tia could get fired too.”

“What? She can’t do that,” Eli protested.

“She owns the shop. She can do anything she wants,” Emmy said, burying her head in his shoulder.

“Alright. We’ll figure something out. It isn’t the end of the world.”

“Eli, you said it yourself,” she said, looking him in the eye. “This was my chance to get my dream job. I needed this practical experience and the money so I could start my own business.”

“You still could. This is just a minor setback.”

“I needed that job. Out wedding,” she said, now between sobs.

“Don’t worry about our wedding. I still have my job down at the mine. I could always pick up more shifts and I could ask my dad to help pay for stuff.”

“No, your dad has a hard enough time with his own family. Besides, your sister need all the money she can get if she ever gets married.”

“What about the diner?”

“What?” Emmy asked, wiping her tears on her sleeve.

“Didn’t you say Cadence told you they would take you back at the diner?”

“Well, yeah, but isn’t that like taking a step back?”

“I don’t really like the idea of you working there again either, but we do what we have to do, right? It’ll be temporary. You could always look for something outside of town. We could move. We need to get a place after we are married anyway, so why not leave town?”

“Leave town? I don’t know, Eli. This is all becoming a lot. My mom is here. My life is here.”

“We don’t have to decide right now. Why don’t you rest up and think about it? We can talk about it tomorrow,” he said.

“That sounds better,” Emmy said with a deep breath.

“Can I get you anything before I leave?”

“You’re leaving?”

“I have to get back to work,” he said and went towards the kitchen. He brought back ice cream and a soda. “I’ll get you cake tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Bye,” he said, giving her a kiss and walking out.

Emmy felt helpless. She didn’t really want ice cream of soda. She got up and took it all back to the kitchen. Then she set the kettle on for tea and washed her face in the sink. Once the tea was done, she sat on the couch with the burning cup between her hands. The extreme heat was a welcome physical reminder that she was still alive. Her phone sat on the coffee table, still and black.

“I can’t,” she said aloud to herself. She took a sip of tea. It burned her tongue but she didn’t care. She opened the phone and scrolled through pictures of wedding dresses. That didn’t make her feel any better. Wait, one caught her attention. Tons of lace. Floor length. Long sleeve. $1340. She could attempt to make it, but the time and cost for materials might not even be worth it. Not to mention the other coasts. Shoes, hair, viel, jewelry, and so many more things. Those all came at a steep price.

“Okay, okay, okay,” she said, going to her contacts. “Hey Julia, can we talk?”

“Hey, Emmy. Haven’t heard a call from you in awhile.”

“Yeah. I’ve been a little busy.”

“Oh yeah. I heard.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, the whole town has been buzzing about it.”

“They are? That fast?”

“Well, honey, it’s been over a week since Eli proposed and you did do it in my diner.”

“Oh, that. Yes.”

“Did you forget already?”

“No, sorry. Things have been crazy.”

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“Well, I just got fired from my job,” Emmy told her and there was a beat of silence.

“Oh, honey. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. Eli came and cheered me up a bit, but I actually needed to talk to you. Do you think there is any possible way that I could come back--”

“Monday morning. Come on in, we’ll be ready for you.”

“Thanks, Julia. If it’s not too much trouble, I would like to work tomorrow.”

“Are you sure? It’s the farmers market, a Saturday, and I only have a closing shift. You know how crazy things get. Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle it?”

“Yes. I need something to keep me busy. Schedule me as much as you can.”

“Alright. I’ll be in tomorrow so we can talk about the details later. You get some rest before tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you again.”

“No problem. Talk to you soon, sweetie.”

Emmy hung up the phone and set it back down on the table. She couldn’t believe she’d be working for the diner again. Life was taking her on a roller coaster that just moved backwards. She went to find her old nametag. It had been almost a year since she needed it. She dug out her old work box, complete with two name tags, black shirts, and dark jeans. She threw the clothes in the wash to get rid of the closet smell. Fresh clothes for a long day.

The farmers market usually brings in lots of customers, even tourists. Then especially at night the vendors pack up for the evening and come into the diner for some dinner before they head home. It usually made the diner packed almost all day, not to mention the clean up after closing. She probably would be there till one or two in the morning, depending on how efficient they are.

She wondered who she’d be closing with. Cadence said she had been working mornings, but she didn’t know when exactly she was planning to switch back. Victor sometimes works nights, but she hadn’t seen him much on the weekends lately. Guess she would just have to wait and see.

Once she put the wash in, she heard the phone ringing from the other room. Maybe it was Eli? She walked over and looked down at the screen. Cadence.

“Hello,” she picked up.

There was screaming.

“I can’t believe you’re coming to work with us again! I mean, sorry for losing your other job, but man do I miss our old closing crew.”

“Yeah. I guess you heard from Julia.”

“I heard right after she got off the phone.”

“Well, I’ll be in tomorrow. I might see you there or are you working mornings still?”

“No, I switched over to closing shifts yesterday. I’ll be closing tomorrow too!”

“Well, that’s at least a relief. Having someone I like and I know can get the job done.”

“Aw, you flatter me. So I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Yeah, tomorrow.”

“Okay, bye,” she cheered and hung up. Emmy took a deep breath and laid back on the couch. Here they go again.

* * *

“I’m happy if you’re happy, but you don’t have to do this if you really don’t want to,” Eli said on the phone to Emmy as she sat in the diner’s parking lot. She had a stop off to the side where it wasn’t too far away from the front door, but was the prime spot. She would leave that for the customers that come and go.

“I mean it’s just a job for right now. Temporary. Until I can find something better. This is just to make money for the wedding.”

“Okay, but if you ever find a second where you are unhappy, you know I will support you if you don’t want to work there.”

“Now you’re sounding like you don’t want me to be here.”

“Emmy, that’s not what I mean.”

“It’s time for my shift,” she said. “See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight. Love you,” he said and she reciprocated before hanging up. Emmy grabbed her bag and walked inside.

“Emaline!” she heard the all too familiar voice.

“Victor, of course you’re working tonight,” she said, rolling her eyes and leaning on the podium.

“Why wouldn’t I be? Table for one?” he asked, looking down at the books.

“Emmy!” Cadence called, coming out from the back.

“Hey Cadence,” she said, giving Cadence a hug.

“Here, your apron is in the back,” she said and the two girls walked to the back room.

“Wait, you’re working here again?” Victor asked, his mouth agape.

“Guess you gotta put up with me a little longer,” Emmy said as she walked, throwing her hands up in the air. Emmy got an apron from the wall and pinned her nametag to it. She threw her bag in an empty locker and took a deep breath.

“You ready to work?” Cadence asked.

Cadence had this way about her that made you want to trust her. Her face was soft and round and her smiles were always soft and reassuring. Her hair was bright blue like a clear sunny day. Emmy didn’t remember a time when Cadence’s hair wasn’t blue. Her bangs covered her eyebrows and made her eyes stick out like two sapphires. At work she always had her hair in a bun, one so big it was almost magical to think she had that much hair to pull up. She was a hard worker and never gave up on people. Emmy could admit she really did miss Cadence.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Emmy said and gave her a high-five. They walked out and began the usual routine. It wasn’t hard for Emmy to catch on again. It was almost refreshing being in a place that felt so safe. A place that felt like going back to your childhood home. A few things might have been rearranged over time, but the layout was still in her muscle memory. She moved around the place like doing a waltz in a busy ballroom. Doc’s was certainly busy given that all the people from the farmer’s market were here along with its usual customers. Emmy watched the market being torn down by the end of the night through the windows. She chatted with people about what booths had been there this week. There was a booth for the local underground monks. There was a booth of food entirely made of kale and salted caramel. There was a booth for cat skulls. There was also the usual booth for the local Burger King and women’s shelter.

The crowds meant that there wasn’t a lot of down time, so when Emmy got her break, she felt it was well deserved. She tried calling Eli to see if he happened to still be awake, but he didn’t answer. He had his bedtime and most of the time he stuck to it. The only times she remembered him staying awake late was when Emmy had something intriguing enough to keep his interest. Emmy decided to take this moment to rest her eyes and enjoy the quiet. When she was finished with her break, it was around the time for Doc’s to close. Unlike the seamstress’, closing only meant new people couldn’t come in. There was still half a restaurant full of people savoring their desserts and coffee.

“Why won’t they leave?” Cadence complained while the three of them stood around the front counter.

“They have a right to stay,” Emmy answered.

“Technically,” Victor said and rolled his eyes.

“All the other tables have been cleaned, right?” Emmy asked.

“Yes. All that’s left is that table, their dishes, and mopping. Then we can take out the trash before we leave,” Cadence explained.

“At least we can be out of here quickly,” Emmy mused.

“Well, if it’s alright with you, I do have a little surprise after they leave,” Cadence said, looking up at Emmy.

“A surprise?”

“Yeah, but I can’t bring it out while there are still customers.”

“Don’t they understand that people have lives?” Victor butted in, his chin falling on the counter in defeat. The couple at the last table chatted and sipped at their coffee without a care in the world.

“I want to eavesdrop just to do something,” Cadence said.

“Don’t even try. I heard what they were talking about and it’s incredibly boring. It would put you to sleep rather than keep you entertained.”

“Wait, I think they are out of coffee,” Victor said, perking up.

“We don’t have any more,” Cadence said.

“That means they will probably leave,” Emmy said with a tired smile. She wasn’t used to being up this late and all this standing around with nothing to do was putting her to sleep.

“The garbage,” Victor said, turning to face the girls. “We can take the bin to the front. It’s Saturday.”

“Ugh, but I already sat on the floor,” Cadence said, leaning back on the wall.

“I’ll go with you. I need something to do,” Emmy said, pulling herself upright. The two walked outside and went towards the back where the cans were.

“Since we’re here, it might be a good time to talk,” Victor said. It was especially dark outside tonight, especially being behind the diner with all the street lights being blocked out.

“Victor, I don’t think--”

“No please. Hear me out,” he said, stopping before we reached the garbage. “I want to let you know that since you’re working here again, I promise it won’t be like before. I promise to leave you alone and no funny business, okay?”

“Thank you. I appreciate that, but I don’t want everything to change. I still want to be your friend and friends can still tease each other. I don’t want to hear about the past though. We’re over that, right? Life has moved on,” Emmy said.

“Yes. Moved on,” he said. “Now let’s move this bin, friend.” They finished moving all the bins and went back inside silently. Thankfully, the couple inside was getting up to leave and Cadence quickly grabbed their mugs and bid them a goodnight

After locking the door, Cadence yelled, “Surprise time!”

“Ooh, I’m excited,” Emmy said, lightly clapping her hands.

“First, music,” Victor cheered and he started to play music from his phone to the speaker.

“Second, snacks,” she said, pulling stuff out of the fridge and placing it on the counter.

“Now, let’s finish closing,” Emmy said, laughing. They cleaned the last few things and left the freshly mopped floors to dry while they all sat around in the breakroom.

“It’s so nice having you back, Emmy,” Cadence said, leaning back in her chair.

“Yeah, I was hesitant at first, but it’s a nice place to be when you need it. I needed this.”

“Speaking of, how’s the wedding planning going?” Victor asked, genuinely curious.

“Really well. We make decisions together pretty easily. It’s been hard finding time to do things together. Hence why I am here. Couldn’t separate my personal and work life enough.”

“That really stinks that you aren’t working at the seamstress’. I knew you were really excited about that,” Cadence said, putting a hand on Emmy’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I really needed that experience.”

“I believe in you. If you set your mind on opening your own shop, you’ll be able to do it,” Victor added.

“Thanks, Vic. I appreciate that. I still want to do that, but with the wedding and everything, my plan is going to have to be put on hold for a little while. I still have plenty of time to figure things out.”

“And we’ll be here the whole time now too. We’ll be there to help with anything you need,” Cadence said with a smile. “Now, how about a mini dance party?”

“I would love to another time, but I’m not used to working this late. I’m going to take some cookies and head home. I really appreciate the warm welcome,” Emmy said, giving them both a hug. “We’ll do something fun soon, I promise.”

They all packed up their stuff and headed out to the cars. With a wave goodbye, they were all on their separate ways.


	4. Episode 4 - The Sirens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “And all sweet sounds of earth and air  
> Melt into one low voice alone,  
> That murmurs over the weary sea,  
> And seems to sing from everywhere,—  
> ‘Here mayst thou harbor peacefully,”

“I’m glad we both have the day off. Lots of planning to do,” Emmy said, sitting on her couch with her laptop open.

“Emmy, it’s only been a week or so. We don’t need to plan everything right now,” Eli said, leaning on the armrest with a soda in his hand.

“Who knows when we’ll have another free day like this. Now that I’m at the diner, Julia can give me as many shifts as possible.”

“I understand, but shouldn’t we just enjoy this time now while we are newly engaged?”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about: the engagement party,” Emmy said, pulling out the wedding notebook. “Oh, we also need to take engagement photos.”

“Man, this wedding stuff is a lot of work,” he said, leaning his head back.

“Yes, it is. Now do you see why it’s so important that we get things started as soon as possible?”

“I understand that things need to be done. It just feels like you’re rushing it a little more than it needs to be rushed,” he said, grabbing her hand.

“I am just really excited. I want us to be married as soon as possible. Let’s think about a date. How about December?”

“December? That’s only two and a half months from now,” he said with wide eyes.

“I think we can get everything done. Do you have a problem with it being too soon?”

“No, it’s just-- No, that works perfect for me,” he said, leaning over for a kiss. They each pulled out their calendars to decide on a specific date.

“How about the 17th?” she offered.

“Works for me. Nothing going on,” he said and they each wrote in the date. Emmy set herself five reminders leading up to the date. Eli set himself two reminders.

“Since we are being quick about it, how about we do the engagement party next week? I know I have a couple of days off and I’m sure Julia could work around it for you,” he said. Emmy gave him a big smile.

“Yes. Yes. That would be perfect. I’ll get started on the guest list and invites. You work on food and Tia and Lily can be here at noon to help with decorations. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” Emmy cheered and got straight to work.

* * *

“I know this is kind of last minute, but here’s your invitations,” Emmy said, handing Cadence and Victor their cards before clocking in.

“Oh, how exciting!” Cadence cheered, opening hers straight away.

“Thanks,” Victor said, holding the card in his hand.

“This is only three days away,” Cadence said giddily.

“This is only three days away,” Victor also said with loose hands and wide eyes.

“Yeah, we’re trying to get everything done since we are getting married in December.”

“December!” Cadence applauded.

“December?” Victor said in shock.

“December 17th to be exact.”

“Why so soon?” Victor asked.

“We’re just excited and want to get it done this year so we can start off the new year as a new couple.”

“You’re already a couple,” he said.

“How exciting! Let me know if there is anything I can do for you,” Cadence told Emmy, grabbing her shoulders.

“There is one thing.”

“Anything.”

“Will you be my bridesmaid?”

She screamed, “Yes. Oh my gosh. This is going to be so much fun.”

“Thank you. It will. Tia is my maid of honor and Lily is the other bridesmaid, so it’ll be the three of you.”

“You don’t want me to be a bridesmaid,” Victor said with a smirk, going back to his normal self.

“As much as I’d love to see you in a dress, I do have to stick with three girls. Please feel free to wear whatever kind of dress you want, though. I’m not holding you back,” Emmy teased.

“Just not a white dress, right?” he said.

“I wouldn’t say no if I knew that a white dress would totally wash you out with your white hair and everything.”

“That is true,” he said, pulling at his hair. “How about red?”

“Or hot pink!” Cadence added laughing.

Emmy smiled. It had been nice having old friends back in her life that she could mess around with. Working at the diner wasn’t so bad after all.

“Hey, after work do you think you’d wanna come and hang with Nix and I?” Cadence asked me.

“Who’s Nix?” she asked, watching the clock hit the hour as they all clocked in.

“She’s another friend of mine,” Cadence said and Victor waved at us before heading to the front podium to replace Joseph.

“Oh, okay. I’d be happy to meet her, but won’t it be kind of late by the time we are off?”

“She’s mostly only available at night and early mornings. Kind of a nocturnal gal,” she said. “I’ll drive us and we’ll grab a coffee before we leave.”

“Okay, I guess I don’t really have anywhere to be in the morning.”

“Great,” she cheered. “You’re gonna love her.”

* * *

“You guys have heard about the rumblings around town right?” Josephine the Journalist said to Emmy as she was taking her order.

“Yeah. Felt a couple too,” Emmy said.

“Oh, you better be careful then. People in town have started to go missing,” she said, handing her menu back. She had ordered broccoli ham pizza, a side of fries, and a peanut punch with sugars. There was really no need to write things down, but Emmy did anyway just for the sake of record keeping.

“People are missing?”

“Yeah, I guess some people have been feeling these pretty rough rumblings at their homes and as they started to grow in frequency and strength, them and their homes have just disappeared overnight. It’s pretty scary.”

“Yeah, that’s terrifying. I should warn Eli. We felt them at his house a few weeks ago.”

“Well these people reported having rumblings two or three times a day so if they aren’t that bad he might be okay. Perhaps aftershocks of whatever is swallowing these people.”

“That’s reassuring. It only happened twice and both weren’t so bad.”

“That’s good. Speaking of Eli, how are things with you two?” Josephine the Journalist asked with her journalist smile.

“Really well. We are getting married in December.”

“How exciting. I would gladly report the entire event for the town. I’m sure it’ll be perfect.”

“I hope it will. It was nice talking to you. I’ll put your order in right now,” Emmy said, walking to the counter and calling the order in. She couldn’t believe that people were disappearing. That’s so unusual. More unusual than the unusual usual that happens around here.

“Ugh, when is quittin’ time?” Cadence asks, leaning on the counter.

“You’ve still got like two and a half hours,” Emmy said, checking the clock.

“No, don’t say that,” she whined.

“Did you hear what Josephine the Journalist told me?” she asked, her mind still racing.

“No. What’d she say?”

“She said that people were disappearing all over town because of those rumblings.”

“What? Seriously? That’s so scary,” she said, standing up straight and dropping her smile.

“Yeah. There have been a couple rumblings at Eli’s house. I think this whole getting married thing is making me more paranoid and protective. I think I’m going to take my break early and call him.”

“Yeah, girl. Do what you have to do,” she said, patting her shoulder as Emmy walked off to the breakroom. She sat down and rang Eli’s number. He should be home from work by now.

“Hey, my love,” he said.

“Hey, Eli. Listen, you haven’t been feeling those rumblings at your house any more have you?”

“You heard about the people too?” he asked.

“Yeah. It’s really starting to scare me. I’m worried about you,” Emmy told him, her voice wavering.

“Hey, hey. It’ll be okay. Don’t worry about it. I haven’t felt a lot of them. I’ll be safe.”

“Okay. It’s just that I just got you and I don’t want to lose you so suddenly like that. I just wanna be married and be with you forever,” she said, starting to cry.

“You will, Emmy. You will. We’ll get married in a couple of months and we’ll be together forever. I promise.”

“Thanks, Eli,” she said.

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow right?”

“Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” she said and he hung up. Emmy locked her phone and set it on the table.

“Hey,” Victor said, sliding into the chair next to me with his usual energy. “Woah, you okay?” He reached over and grabbed the box of tissues on the counter behind him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Emmy said, grabbing the box from him and wiping her eyes.

“Do you wanna talk about it? Do you need a hug?” he asked, moving his chair closer to her.

“I don’t--” she tried to say but her voice got choked up again.

“No funny business, remember?” he said, moving his chair and giving her a hug. At first she was hesitant, but he was her friend and she needed someone right now. Emmy relaxed and leaned into him. They sat there for awhile. He rubbed her back and she breathed carefully and slowly.

“Do you want to talk about anything?” he whispered.

“Can we talk about sharks?” she asked, pulling away from him.

He laughed softly, “Of course we can. How about those funny hammerheads? They look too silly to be sharks.”

Emmy laughed.

“And that goblin shark with the messed up teeth and the funny nose,” he said, getting up to grab a cup of water.

Emmy cleaned her face up and laughed again.

“How about the frill shark? What does he think he is? A girl at an 80s prom?”

He handed her the glass and she drank it. Emmy took a deep breath and composed herself.

“Or like a silly renaissance man,” she said with a smile.

“There you go,” he smiled big.

“Thanks, Vic.”

“Anytime, Emaline.”

“We should get back to work,” she said, standing up.

“You go ahead. I’m going to finish my break.”

“Okay, see you out there.”

* * *

“Finally we are done. I love working at the diner with you guys, but man is it great when I don’t have to be working,” Cadance said after we locked up and all walked back to our cars.

“Yeah. It’s a good feeling being finished with a long day,” Emmy added, ripping off her apron and letting her hair out of its bun. She looked over at Victor who was watching her. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“You ready to go?” Cadence asked, bouncing on her feet.

“Yeah, I guess so. Vic you coming?” Emmy asked as Cadence and her started to walk towards her truck.

“No, Cadence doesn’t want me to meet Nix. Something about embarrassing her,” he said and leaned against the side of his car.

“It’s true. He has to earn that right,” Cadence said and waved him off and got in the car.

“I guess this is a big honor then,” Emmy said, her hand loose on the door handle.

“The biggest,” Victor said, not moving.

“Thanks again,” she said, “for tonight.”

“That’s what friends are for,” he said with a small smile.

“Good night, Vic.”

“Good night, Emaline,” he said and got in his car.

Emmy got in Cadence’s car and she immediately asked, “So, how’s Eli doing today?”

“What?” Emmy asked, putting her seat belt on.

“Eli. You talk about him non-stop and now you don’t have anything to say about him?”

“No. I just—” She looked over as Victor pulled out of the parking space and drove off. “He’s great. What’s the big deal with Nix then, huh?” She smirked at her, trying to change the mood.

“You’ll see,” she said and started driving. After grabbing some coffees, Cadence played her beach day playlist and drove towards the shore.

“We’re going to the beach?” Emmy asked, halfway through the drive.

“You’ll see,” Cadence singsonged.

“You know, I do miss that whenever I’m with you I get introduced to new music,” she said, taking note of a song Cadence had playing.

“Oh yeah. You missed quite a few music phases.”

“Oh my, I can’t wait to hear about all the embarrassing stories.”

“Let’s just say that spanish country music was involved and something regarding a harmonica.”

“Oh no,” Emmy cringed and laughed with her.

“Depression from not seeing you, I guess.”

“Aw. So how did you meet Nix?” she asked.

“Well, it was a little bit after you moved jobs. I had more nights to myself and so I started spending time at the beach late into the night and eventually just happened upon Nix who was also out here late at night. Things clicked and we became good friends ever since then.”

“That’s nice. I’m glad you made friends after I left,” she said and paused. “I’m sorry about leaving so abruptly, by the way. I was so caught up in Eli and chasing some dream that I didn’t realise I acted like kind of a jerk.”

“It’s okay, Emmy. I understand where you were at the time and I didn’t take it personally. I knew that one day you’d want to at least be friends again. You were just excited about the seamstress’ which is perfectly understandable.”

“Thanks, that makes me--”

“However, that doesn’t mean that everyone felt the way I did.”

“What? What do you mean?” Emmy asked, looking over at her.

“You probably didn’t notice, but you never really explained why you left to Victor.”

“Oh.”

“He was really lost after you left. He eventually got over it, but it wasn’t easy for him. You were his best friend.”

“I was?”

“Yes. He adored you and you kind of left without saying anything.”

“He-- Oh man. He did. I did. Ugh. Okay, I’ll find some time and apologise to him,” she stuttered, rubbing her hands on her face.

“Thank you. He could never be mad at you for long, so don’t feel like he’s going to be holding a grudge. He still considers you a great friend.”

“He’s a great friend, too,” Emmy said and they pulled into a parking lot by the beach. It was pretty dead out here and a lot of the lights were turned off. “Cadence, I think the beach is closed. Are we meeting her out here?”

“Yes, but don’t worry. I know the way by heart. We don’t need lights.”

“Alright,” she said, her voice wavering. They both got out of the car and she handed Emmy a sweatshirt that was in her trunk. She put it on and wrapped her arms around herself. The beach was freezing tonight. Emmy followed her down towards the shoreline, near the cliffs.

“Come on, this way. Trust me,” she said, holding out her hand. Emmy took it and she climbed along the edge of a cliff right against the water.

“Cadence where are we going?” Emmy asked, her knees starting to shake. They were walking along a tiny path of rock right up against the waves.

Cadence didn’t answer her, but eventually they stepped to the side and made it to a little cove of white sand. The air here was blocked from the wind and was quiet. The water sparkled under the moonlight.

“Woah, this is cool,” Emmy said, looking around at the rocks and sand.

“This is where I come to meet Nix,” Cadence said and took her shoes off. She sat with her knees up and her feet in the water.

“This is beautiful,” Emmy said and looked over to see a green glow coming from underneath the water, getting closer and closer to Cadence. “Cadence, what’s that?”

“Nix,” she said and a head popped out of the water. 

Emmy recoiled in shock.

“Mermaid,” Emmy said as Nix pulled herself up on the sand next to Cadence and her tail flipped off the extra seawater.

“Cadence,” Nix said and gave Cadence a big hug.

“Nix, it’s good to see you again. I want you to meet my friend, Emaline. We call her Emmy.”

“Emmy, it’s so nice to meet you,” Nix said, holding out her hand loosely.

“You too, Nix,” Emmy said, taking her hand and sitting down next to them.

“So, how have you been?” Cadence asked her.

“Very well. How about yourself? Keeping safe, I hope?”

“As safe as I can,” Cadence said with a smirk.

“I’m glad. I heard about all the people disappearing and I was worried you might have been one of them,” she said and Emmy’s heart dropped a little. She was worried about Eli again.

“No. No rumblings at my house. Just been working my butt off all the time.”

“Oh good. I just glad you weren’t that poor lady on Deep Hollow yesterday.”

“You know where the disappearances are happening?”

“Yes, we can sense the vibrations through the water and the distance they are coming from. There was one today that was bigger than anything I had ever felt. From such an odd place too. Somewhere that hadn’t had too many previous rumblings like the others. Couldn’t have evacuated even if they wanted too. They probably didn’t even see it coming.”

“How do you know they are even in the house when it gets swallowed?”

“I think whatever is taking them can sense when people are in their house, unaware.”

“That’s horrible,” Cadence chimed in. “Where was the one today?”

“From what I can tell. I think it was near Peck Meadow, down by that mine,” she said and Emmy’s heart stopped.

“Eli,” Cadence and Emmy said simultaneously.

“Do you know the person?” Nix asked, her face sad.

“Eli is Emmy’s fiance,” Cadence told her.

“You love this Eli? But I though she lo--”

“Cadence, I hate to cut this short, but I have to go back. I have to make sure he’s okay,” Emmy said, standing up quickly.

“Of course. Nix, I’m sorry. I’ll be back the soonest day possible,” Cadence said and gave Nix a hug before standing up.

“I understand. I do send my hopes that it is not the one you love,” Nix said to me.

“Thank you,” Emmy said and she started to walk back from where they came in. Cadence followed quickly after her, holding Emmy’s hand so she wouldn’t fall. It probably wasn't the best to be climbing cliffs when your heart was in panic. They got to the car quickly and drove towards Eli’s house.


	5. Episode 5 - Seperation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Your absence has gone through me  
> Like thread through a needle.  
> Everything I do is stitched with its color.”

Where his house had stood: an empty pile of dirt. Where his car had been: an empty pile of dirt. Where his heart had been: an empty pile of dirt. Emmy couldn’t even get out of the car. Her legs were frozen and her mind had gone blank. She felt grief. Cadence got out of the car and helped Emmy stand up. They walked arm and arm towards his property line. They stopped where the grass ended and the long expanse of dirt began.

“Maybe he wasn’t home,” Cadence said slowly.

“He was home. I talked to him earlier. He was going to bed. It was past his bedtime. He doesn’t like to go out past his bedtime.”

“I’m going to call his phone,” Cadence said, pulling out her phone and dialing his number. She put it on speaker and it began to ring. After the second ring, it stopped and went quiet. There was some dial tones and static and then the phone shut off completely. “Okay, I take it he doesn’t want to be reached.”

Emmy dropped to the ground. Tears creeped down her cheeks and she couldn’t breathe.

“Emmy, come home with me. You can stay all night. Come on, we gotta get you out of this cold.”

“What if he comes back?” she whispered.

“Honey, we haven’t heard of anyone coming back. Besides, how would an entire house just reappear?”

“How does an entire house disappear?” she screamed back.

“I know. It does seem unlikely,” Cadence said calmly. “Let’s go home.”

She picked Emmy up and walked her to the car. Cadence drove them back to her house. When they got inside, Emmy went straight to laying on the couch. Cadence grabbed her blankets, pillows, and a glass of water. She then sat on the armchair facing Emmy.

“Emmy, it’s late. Please get some sleep and we can talk about this in the morning, okay?”

Emmy nodded. Cadence kissed her forehead and walked into her own bedroom. The lights turned off and Emmy was left in silence. Of course she couldn’t sleep. Her fiance was gone. Gone. Taken from her.

Eventually morning came and Emmy was still awake on Cadence’s couch. The morning sun peeked through the blinds and through the untouched glass of water. Cadence came out of her room and started making coffee. Emmy put in some effort to sit upright and continued to stare at the glass of water. Cadence made two cups of coffee and sat with her on the couch.

“Victor is bringing us breakfast. He doesn’t have to stay if you don’t want him to,” she said quietly and put one of the mugs in Emmy’s hand. The mug was hot. Only when she felt the warmth from the coffee cup on her skin did she realise her own body temperature was low. She took a sip of coffee and felt the warmth run down her throat and into her chest. It felt like it was the only thing left in there.

“Do you want me to call Lily and Tia?”

“No,” she said quickly.

“Okay. Do you want to talk about it or turn on the TV? Do you want to take a shower?”

“TV, then shower. This coffee is amazing. Thank you,” she said, taking another sip.

“No problem. Is the nature channel okay?”

“Turn on your channel. I want people yelling at each other,” Emmy told her and Cadence laughed a little.

Cadence turned on an episode of some reality show that looked identical to all the others. The girls both thought it was a welcome distraction to have voices carried through the room that wasn’t theirs. It made Emmy feel a little less alone. It made Cadence feel a little less pressured to fill the void. When Emmy finished her coffee, Cadence helped her set up the shower. It had been a while since Emmy stayed over at her house, but the toothbrush Emmy had left there was still sitting in the cup next to Cadence’s. She gave Emmy some fresh clothes to wear and left her alone to enjoy the hot shower. When Emmy came out dressed, drying her hair with a towel, Cadence and Victor were sitting whispering in the kitchen.

“Hey,” Victor said, turning around to look at Emmy. His voice was quiet and soft.

She stared at him, her mouth open to say something, but nothing came out.

“Did you have a nice shower?” Cadence asked.

Emmy blinked twice and answered her, “Very nice. Thanks for the clothes.”

“No problem. You look nice in pink,” she said and Emmy looked down at the soft pink shirt and grey sweatpants she had been loaned.

“Thanks,” Emmy siad, sitting on the couch.

“You want some food?” she asked, handing her a plate of pancakes and eggs.

“I guess,” she said, taking the plate.

“Do you want Victor to leave?” Cadence whispered as she sat down next to Emmy. She looked over at him sitting at the table, bewildered at the peeled lime that came on his waffle.

“No, he’s fine,” Emmy said.

“So, do you want to talk about it?”

“I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do with myself. He was- We were- We were going to get married,” she said, tears finally coming.

“I know, sweetie.”

“What am I going to do?” she said and set the plate down.

“Here’s what you’re going to do,” Victor said, standing up. He handed Emmy her food again and turned off the TV. “You’re going to pick yourself up and get back on track. You are a strong, independent woman who can deal with trials--”

Emmy’s phone chimed.

 **Tia:** _I know you might be working tomorrow, but I thought we could start putting together the favors for the party if you’re free._

“Who is it?” Cadence asked.

“Tia. She wants to finish stuff up for the engagement party. We’re going to have to cancel the party,” she said, starting to cry again.

“See what you did, Victor,” Cadence reprimanded him.

“What? What did I do?”

“Here, you stay with her. I’ll call Tia and Lily and explain the situation,” Cadence said, taking the phone and leaving Emmy on the couch. She stepped into her bedroom and closed the door.

“Hey, look. I’m sorry, okay?” Victor said, sitting on the couch.

“No, you didn’t do anything,” she said and sniffled.

“Well, I’m sorry, nonetheless, that you lost Eli. I know how much you loved him. I know probably more than anyone because you had to constantly turn me down. That is a very difficult thing to do, you know,” he said with a wide crooked smile. “So if you could resist all of this, you must have really loved him.”

“Thank you, Vic,” she said with a weak laugh and gave him a hug.

“So, bake off reruns or shark week reruns?”

“Bake off,” she said.

He turned on the show and she rested her head on his shoulder. The lack of sleep suddenly hit her and she fell right asleep. Victor didn’t dare move an inch, but he did pull the blanket over her shoulders so she wouldn’t get cold.

When she woke, she was still resting on Victor and the episode was almost over.

“Hey, girlie. Tia and Lily showed up,” Cadence said.

Emmy blinked the sleep out of her eyes and sat upright. Victor stirred and there was drool coming from the side of his mouth. He had dozed off without realising it too. Emmy laughed a little to herself and then came to terms with what Cadence had told her.

“Okay, let me--” she said, pushing her hair down and wiping her face. Emmy walked over to them in the kitchen.

“Oh, Emmy. I’m so sorry,” Lily said, pulling Emmy into a tight hug.

“This must be so hard,” Tia said, grabbing her shoulder.

“Thanks for coming guys,” Emmy said.

“You doing okay?” Tia asked.

“I’m okay for now. I just- I feel like my life has been turned upside down. I’m not sure what I’m going to do next.”

“Since we already have people and food and decorations arranged for Saturday, let’s just have a party celebrating you. We’ll do whatever you want. What do you say? It’ll be fun!” Lily offered.

They seemed so excited, so she couldn’t help but say yes. “Sure.”

“Yay, I promise you won’t regret it. We’ll do all your favorite stuff. We’ll even get a clown if you want.”

“That sounds good,” she laughed.

* * *

Emmy walked into the diner, bells chiming on the way in. She threw her apron on and leaned against the counter. Victor was writing in his book like usual.

“You doing okay?” he asked, not looking up and not stopping his pencil.

“As well as I can. I’m open to a distraction though,” she said with an ease of her voice.

“What?” he said, his voice going high and his pencil going slack.

“ _Working_ as a distraction.”

“Oh, yeah. Of course,” he said, his face going red.

“You’re funny,” she said, hitting his shoulder and walking to the back. Cadence was looking at her phone with a big smile on her face.

“What’s so great that’s making you smile?” Emmy said, trying to sound happy.

“Sorry. I didn’t see you come in,” she said, putting away her phone. “How are you?”

“Cadence, you can be happy. It’s okay.”

“It was just Nix. I went to see her last night and we took these great photos.”

“I’m happy you were having fun. Man, why does everything I say sound passive aggressive? I’m sorry. I mean that in the most sincere way.”

She laughed and said, “Don’t worry about it. I appreciate the thought. She did mention something that you might be interested in.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Well we were talking about- sorry to mention it but- we were talking about the people disappearing and Nix asked if we knew where they went.”

“Where they went?”

“Well if the ground was swallowing them up, do you think maybe they just went somewhere else?”

“Like teleporting?”

“I don’t know. She said that her grandmother had known an old legend about a guide that could lead you to the flipside of the known world. Everyone just thought that they were talking about land versus sea, but maybe it was more than that. Maybe there is an alternative reality to our world and whatever is down there is taking people from up here for some reason.”

“That is interesting.”

“Now I don’t want you to get your hopes up about finding Eli, but don’t you think that it might be worth investigating. Not just for yours and Eli’s sake, but all the other people and their family's sake as well.”

“You should have Nix ask her grandmother about that the next time you see her.”

“She’s already on it,” she said and put her hand atop Emmy’s. “We’ll help you find out as much as we can. I promise. We’re all here for you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if we’re helping Emaline, I’m in,” Victor said, coming in suddenly. He sat down and put his hand atop Cadence’s.

“I’ll fill you in later. I’m going to see Nix tonight again to see if she has any information. You guys are welcome to come with me if you want.”

“You mean I can finally come?” Victor asked.

“Since it’s for Emmy, yes.” Cadence said, hesitantly.

“Yes,” he said, pumping a fist in the air.

Emmy laughed. “Glad I could be of service.”


	6. Episode 6 - Still Life with a Ladder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Today I am alive and it is a good thing--  
> clams in the half shell, a lemon rosemary tart.  
> I live in the day and the day lives past me.  
> If I could draw a map of the hours, a long  
> horizon would travel on indefinitely ~ a green, backlit thread."

“It’s time,” Cadence said as they all hopped into her truck.

“I really should start bringing a warmer change of clothes if this is going to become a regular thing,” Emmy said, grabbing Cadence’s coat from the back again. They drove to the beach and Victor was nearly bouncing off the walls in excitement as they climbed to see Nix. They arrived at the came and Nix pulled herself up onto the shore.

“Victor,” Nix said before anything else.

“Nix. You know who I am?”

“Of course. What other annoying white-haired friend does Cadence have?”

“This… is true. It’s nice to finally meet you. A real mermaid!”

“Yeah. Anyway,” she said, trailing off.

“Did you find anymore information about the guide?” Cadence asked.

Emmy twisted her fingers up in the long sleeves of the jacket.

“Yes,” Nix said and proceeded to tell them what she discovered.

Apparently there is an ancient guide only available to those who truly need to seek her. She appears once a week when the tide is lowest in the southern most cave of this very beach. She will grant you complete passage if you find out the true lesson of the quest. If you cannot find the lesson by the end of your trip, time will reset and you will have to try again the following week. You may try as many times as you’d like, but if you give into undesirous temptations while in the other dimension, you can become stuck there forever. She said there was more that the guide could tell them, but that was the basics. Nix had to leave quickly that night so they were left to our own bewilderment.

“That was so vague and confusing if you ask me,” Victor said, pacing the back of the cave.

“It is, but it sounds like we have to find the guide if we want to find out the exact details. When is the tide lowest?” Emmy asked.

“I don’t know. My phone doesn’t get service out here. Let’s go back to the car,” Cadence said and they climbed back to the parking lot. They drove back to the diner and Emmy searched for the details on her phone.

“The tide is lowest tomorrow at 6:37 p.m,” she announced.

“That’s right in the middle of your party,” Cadence reminded her.

“We go tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Cadence said.

“You don’t have to come with me. Eli is my fiance. This is my problem and I can--”

“We’re coming with you,” Victor said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Thanks,” she said. “We should probably bring supplies. Who knows what’ll be on the other side. Meet at my house at 6.”

“Isn’t that when the party is?” Cadence asked.

“I guess I’ll tell Tia that it is postponed until I find Eli,” she said as they pulled into the diner parking lot. They all immediately went home after the long day. Emmy for one got right into bed and slept for as long as she should. Being stressed about Eli had really kept her from sleeping, but now that she had hope, that lack of sleep caught up to her quickly.

The next morning when she woke up, it felt like a train had run her over. Her head was throbbing and her neck ached. She went to make some coffee and run a bath. Goodness knows she needed it. As she laid there, her phone started to ring. She picked it up and heard laughing on the other end.

“Lily, hello?” she said into the mic.

“Oh, sorry. Hi, Emmy!”

“Hi, Lily. What’s going on?” she asked, her voice sounding rough.

“Well we were picking up some candy for the party and Tia wanted to see if you wanted to help put together party favors,” she said.

“Oh, about the party,” Emmy said, but was interrupted.

“Oh, no. You cannot cancel this party, Emmy. It’s for your own good. I know that you might be feeling sorry for yourself, but sometimes you need to be a little selfish,” Tia chimed in.

“Besides, planning a party is so much fun,” Lily added.

“No, I was just going to say that I wanted to help more. So feel free to come over,” Emmy said, hesitantly. She couldn’t just take this all away from them. Besides, she would be at the party for a little while and then she’d just take off. She would either come back with Eli or time would be reset, right?

“Yay, we’re in the city right now, so it should be a couple of hours before we get back into town,” Lily explained.

“Do you have any candy preferences while we are here?” Tia asked.

She helped guide them through what candy would be best, picking out more things that the girls and Eli liked rather than what she liked. The party wasn’t really about Emmy anymore. All the while, she started getting out of the bath and changed into real clothes. They hung up once they went to check out and Emmy started fixing her hair while she called another friend.

“Hey, Vic,” she said once he answered.

“Emaline, so good to hear from you,” he said in his normal chipper host voice.

“I need to ask you a favor,” she said.

“Anything, my dear.”

“Will you let me treat you to coffee right now?”

“Are you asking me out,” he joked.

“No, Victor. I just need to talk to you,” she said.

“Okay, wanna meet over at King’s or Flower Bean?”

“King’s is better. Meet me there in like fifteen minutes?”

“Sounds good, little one. See you soon.”

“Bye,” she said and hung up.

* * *

The bell chimed. Victor waved her over to a table in the corner. He already had two coffees. Emmy’s heart raced.

“You ordered for me,” she said, sitting down.

“Cinnamon mocha. Extra hot.”

“Thank you. This shouldn’t take long,” she said, pulling her hair off to one side and playing with the ends.

“Is everything okay?”

“Three years ago, I had met Eli and he became everything to me. He was there for me when I was down and he made me want to smile everyday. He was the support I needed and he didn’t give up even when I did. However, I think my relationship with him made me overlook a few things. He focused all of my attention on him and my goals of opening a costume shop. Although I don’t regret this, there are maybe some minor details that I may have overlooked. Those details included my friends and their feelings. Victor, you were one of my best friends. Probably my best best friend before Eli and sometimes even after Eli. I don’t want to forget the times you were there for me, but I can’t ignore the times I forgot you and I wanted to come here and apologise.”

“Emmy, what are you talking about?” he asked, with a breathy chuckle.

“It’s been brought to my attention that when I left for the seamstress’, I may have left a little too abruptly and I never said goodbye.”

“Emmy, you don’t need to say goodbye. Ever. I never felt like you needed to say goodbye to me. I understood that you had goals and ambitions. I wasn’t planning on getting in the way of that. However, I work at the town’s most central diner. I didn’t need a goodbye because I knew I was going to see you all the time. Emaline, I will never leave you alone. You know this. I’m not that easy to get rid of,” he said grabbing her hand and laughing.

“I know I was going to see you again, but it’s not the same. I wasn’t going to be spending every second with you. I wasn’t going to be by your side anymore. Eli didn’t want- I mean, I wanted to go to the seamstress’.”

“Wait, did Eli not want you to work at the diner because you’d be with me?” he asked, leaning back in his chair.

“Well, not exactly,” she said, trying to avoid the question. “That’s not what matters right now.”

“Of course it matters! Even if Eli kept you from working at the diner, that didn’t stop you from coming by every free second you had.”

“What are you insinuating?”

“I’m _insinuating_ that you liked the attention I gave you and you came running back to it every second you could.”

“How dare you think that I thought you were some sort of emotional side piece? I did not come running to you every free second. You said it yourself, you work at the most central diner in town. There is no way I could avoid you even if I wanted to,” she spat. “I have to go.”

“Emmy, we can’t just leave like this. We have important things to do after--” he said, but she was already out the door, coffee in hand. She walked home and slammed the front door on the way in.

“He is- He is just a piece of work, isn’t he?” she said to herself in the hallway mirror. She grabbed a pillow off the couch and threw it on the floor with a grunt. She slammed her butt on the couch and folded her arms aggressively. She picked up the pillow, imagining it was Victor’s face.

“Why do you have to be so cocky and conceited and pompous and a big-headed freak and--”

The doorbell rang. The party. She completely forgot. She smashed her face into the pillow and screamed. She sighed and went to open the door.

“Emaline!” Lily shouted, shoving her way through with grocery bags.

“Hey guys. Sorry, I forgot you were coming this early. I didn’t clean much.” she said as Tia walked through the door with more bags.

“You clean. We’ll bring in the rest of the stuff from the car.”

“There is more?”

“Of course these is more. It’s a party,” Tia cheered.

“I was thinking it would just be something small,” she said, but then thought about it. The more people and commotion there was, the easier it would be to sneak out.

“No way. You deserve to have the whole town come and celebrate what a wonderful, brave person you are!” Lily said in almost a condescending tone.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she said, hoping she’d buy Emmy’s lie.

“Yay,” Lily cheered. They bought it. Emmy started to pick up things around her house, taking a second longer to look at the pillow. She debated if she should tell Lily and Tia that she just had a fight with Victor. She decided against it. They wouldn’t really understand. She didn’t tell them much about Victor. The only people that really understood her close relationship with him were Eli and Cadence. She knew that Victor usually forgave her quickly for these little spats they had, so she forgave him and moved on. She took a deep breath and turned her focus on making a great party for Lily and Tia.

* * *

By five in the afternoon, everything was done and was ready for people to start arriving. There was food, music, small games, decorations, and a lot of excitement from Tia and Lily. Emmy was a little tired from all the work and was just starting to get nervous about her evening to come. She wondered how long it would take for them to find Eli and get out of- of wherever he is. The issue weighed heavily on her mind, but she tried to conceal her feelings for the time being. Thankfully, greeting guests and making sure everyone was getting settled kept her busy enough. A little less than an hour later, Cadence and Victor showed up and I knew it was time. Cadence looked a little awkward and a lot quieter than usual. Victor barely even looked Emmy in the eyes.

“Okay, so should we get going?” Emmy asked after barely giving them a greeting.

“Sure,” Cadence said with half a smile.

“I’ll go let Tia know I’m going to grab more ice and I’ll meet you guys in the car.”

“Okay,” Cadence said and both walked out the front door.

“Ouch, that was icy,” Lily said, leaning on Emmy’s shoulder from behind.

“It was nothing. Speaking of ice, I’m going to grab some more. I’ll be back in a little bit,” she said.

“No, this is your party. You need to enjoy it.”

“I need a little time by myself real quick. Let me get it,” Emmy said, patting her hand.

“Okay. Hope everything is okay,” she said, darting her eyes between Emmy and the empty doorway.

“Yeah, it will be,” Emmy said and walked down to the car. She wrapped her sweater tighter around her shoulders and turned up her chin. When she got into the backseat, the car was silent. They drove all the way to the beach, but before they got out, Cadence locked the doors so they couldn’t leave.

“Okay you two. If there was any time to make up, now is the time. We have to accomplish who knows what for who knows how long, and we need to make this work for Eli’s sake. Now apologize to each other for whatever you did,” Cadence said with a sharp nod of her head.

“Fine, I’m sorry,” Emmy said quickly.

“I’m sorry,” Victor mumbled.

“And what are we apologizing for? We must be specific or its not genuine,” she said with an assuredness that made me love her most of the time, but not necessarily now.

“I’m sorry for being too accusing of your implications regarding my actions,” Emmy said, vaguely.

“I apologize for making such implications. I guess I was wrong,” he said, pulling the lock pin and stepping outside. “Let’s go!” He shut the door and walked towards the sand.

“That will have to do for now,” Cadence said and got out of the car. Emmy pulled her door’s lock pin and jumped out. They walked down to the beach and found the damp pathway unveiled at low tide. They came to a cave with a floor of sea glass and giant clamshell.

“Hello, we are seeking passage to a world beneath,” Cadence shouted.

The clamshell began to open, and light peered out, reflecting off all the glass around them. Emmy took a step back.

“I know what you seek,” a fishlike creature, who they assumed was the ancient guide, had announced as it opened its eyes.

“Yes, please, we need your help to see our friend again,” Cadence explained.

“I am Aerwyna. I carry what you need to continue on your journey. However, there are many tests that you must face before you can reach your goal.”

“We’ll go anything,” Emmy spoke up.

“Yes, we’ll pass any test you give us,” Cadence reiterated.

“First you must take pendants. This pendant—” Aerwyna carried in her left fin a pendant of blue and green “—will allow you to summon friends from under the sea onto land. This pendant—” she held in her right fin a pendant of orange and red “—will allow you to summon friends from land into the sea. The choice is yours, Cadence.”

“Woah, I would much rather go into the ocean. We could all visit Nix!” Cadence said, getting excited.

“And prepare us in case we need to be underwater for some reason,” Victor pointed out.

“That too. That too,” Cadence said, grabbing the pendant of orange and red.

“Now, for the girl with the strong heart and a passion for her beloved, a choice. One pendant that can reveal the truth or one that can help heal the ones you love?”

“Well, I know that my friends and Eli will always be truthful, so I would rather be able to heal them in case we run into trouble,” she said and quickly grabbed the pendant of grey and blue.

“For the man of thoughtfulness and a heart of gold, a choice: this pendant will help you to remember even when all is forgotten and this one will show what a person’s heart truly loves.”

“I’m taking this one,” he said, quickly grabbing the pendant of remembrance, marked with colors of gold and green.

“Perhaps a wise choice. Now, for the rules.”

“Rules?” Cadence asked.

“All magic must have a limit. My dear, Emaline, come forward and give me your hand.”

She hesitantly stepped forward and put out her hand.

“Since you are coming to find your betrothed, your ring will take you into the Diametric Dimension and bring you out of it.” She took off the ring and put it between her fins. When she opened it, the ring was glowing. “When you put it on, you will be taken down below, when you take it off, you will be brought back here. This magic will only work when the tide is at its lowest. You may only use the portal once a week.”

“We’re only going to need it once. We are going in for Eli and coming back with him,” Emmy explained.

“The Diametric Dimension is not something to be messed with. You must pass its tests and learn what it is trying to teach you. If you do not, you will not be able to get through all of the barriers and reach your betrothed. If you come out before you reach your goal, time will be reset and you may start again when the magic resets after seven days. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said, grabbing the ring and holding it in her hand.

“Now, put the ring on and begin your journey,” she said.

Emmy put her engagement ring on and the back wall of the cave transformed into a door.

“Healer, you may enter first,” she said to Candance.

“I’ll see you on the other side,” she smiled and walked through the door.

“Recordkeeper, you may enter next,” she said to Victor and he walked towards the door.

“Vic, wait,” Emmy said, reaching out to him.

“What is it?” he asked, turning around.

“Before we go in, I just wanted to apologize again. I didn’t want to say anything specific in front of Cadence, but I really am sorry for getting upset at you earlier. You had every right to think what you did, and I apologize for making you think I was leading you on. I should have been more in control of my emotions. I’m sorry, for _everything_ ,” she said, nodding her head towards his at the end.

“I know what you mean. Thank you for apologizing. It is partly my fault too. The past is the past and I can’t keep bringing it up. Even if it is funny when you get annoyed,” he said.

She laughed and said, “Well, it’s time to go. See you in the Diametric Dimension.”

They smiled at each other and then he walked through the door.

“Keep a close eye on them, fighter. Friends can be more important than we think. It’s your turn to step through the door,” Aerwyna said.

Emmy walked through the door and everything went black.


	7. Episode 7 - Up-Hill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “But is there for the night a resting-place?  
> A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.  
> May not the darkness hide it from my face?  
> You cannot miss that inn.”

A single flame flickered in a street lamp. Emmy took a step forward. Another lamp turned on. Cadence. Emmy ran forward and grabbed her hand. They took a step forward together. Another lamp turned on. Victor. He grabbed Cadence’s hand.

“Time moves forward here,” a familiar voice called from beside them.

“Who goes there?” Emmy asked, turning towards the sound.

The place was silent. They could see houses lining each side like a street in a small European town. The air was cold and wet like an underground cave. There was a sort of mist or fog around them, but the darkness hid it away. More lights flickered on as they moved down the street. Eventually they came across a building with light spilling out from under the door and a heat that lured them inside.

“Are we sure this is safe? It could be a trap,” Cadence said.

“I’m sure it’s fine. Besides, what if Eli is in here. We have to explore every crevasse until we find him,” Emmy explained, opening the door.

“And it smells like pie so I’m going in,” Victor said as they stepped through the door.

The light burst out and warmth from a nearby fire relieved them from a chill they weren’t even aware of until now. The smell of baked goods wafted through the air and music played quietly from a piano. The people inside were quiet, talking amongst themselves in groups of two to four.

“We should start with food,” Victor said, immediately heading towards the bar.

“What?” Emmy said, grabbing his arm. “We just got here and you’re already hungry?”

“No,” he said, turning around. “But there is food here that smells good and who knows when the next time we’ll eat is.”

“What does that mean? We’re just here to find Eli and get out. It’s not like we’re going to end up starved in the woods.”

“You didn’t think the creepy empty town was any indication that maybe, just maybe, there could be something else going on here?” Cadence butted in.

“Okay, sure. This place is creepy, but Eli just got here. If anything is going on, I’m sure Eli isn’t a part of it yet. We just need to ask around to see if anyone has seen someone new or if they know where people usually get dropped into this world. I think they would notice if an entire house plopped down overnight.”

“Fine, but the best way to talk to people is over food,” Victor said and broke free from her grasp. 

Emmy sat down at an empty table with her arms crossed. If Eli had come across this bar just as they did, someone must have seen him. She looked around, observing everyone’s faces closely. Some seemed a little sinister, but most people were open and friendly. Eli and Cadence came back with some chips and a few drinks.

“This place kind of feels familiar, does it not?” Cadence spoke up.

“What do you mean?” Emmy asked, sipping her tea.

“I mean obviously we don't have a log cabin bar with a fireplace, but the layout feels almost like home. Like the same layout as the diner.”

They looked around at the placement of the tables. The placement of the front door. The bar. The doors to the back. This place did have the exact same layout as the diner. It was like someone took the diner and gave it a new theme.

“Eli was a man of routine. Of habit. Do you think he noticed that this was like the diner? Even maybe subconsciously?” Emmy asked.

“He could have,” Cadence answered. “What’s your point?”

“If he did, then maybe he would return here and sit at our table.”

“Fourth from the kitchen against the back wall,” Victor said.

“Equal distance from the kitchen, bathroom, and front door,” Cadence added. They knew Eli much more than Emmy thought.

“Exactly. If we get that table and wait for him there, maybe he’ll show up.”

They waited for the table. When the folk who were sitting there left the establishment, they gang moved to the table. They ordered more drinks and continued to wait. They night grew long and the conversations lost enjoyment. Emmy was too anxious, Victor grew bored, and Cadence grew tired.

“I wonder if this town has some sort of hotel,” Cadence asked and then yawned.

“We can’t give up now,” Emmy said.

“I’m not giving up. Maybe we can wait in shifts. There is no need for us all to be exhausted.” Cadence reasoned.

“Okay, you and Victor go to find something and I’ll stay here,” Emmy ordered and they both slid out and left. Cadence was right. Emmy was growing tired. It had been a long day followed by a long night. Her anxiety over what happened to Eli was draining her. Maybe she should have been looking around town, but she knew Eli well enough that he would come here. Besides, the town didn’t look that big. He couldn’t have gone far. The front door opened and she almost heard the chimes from the diner. Before she could even look over to see who came in, a presence stopped next to her table. When she looked up, there was a man that looked nothing like she had known her fiance to be.

“Eli?”

“Hello, Emaline,” he said with a toothy grin. He sat across from her.

“What-Who-W--”

“Shh,” he said, putting a finger over her mouth gently. “There’s no need to panic or be confused. I am Eli. The very same one you once knew. Welcome to the Diametric Dimension. You like this little bar I made for you?”

“Made? Knew? What are you talking about?” Emmy said, her heart racing and heat rising to her face.

“I’m sorry. You’re new here. Let me start from the beginning. Time works a little differently here. How long has it been since I dropped off from that wretched town?”

“Only about a day,” she said.

“Down here, it’s been more like a month or so. I’ve lost track after I stopped caring. When I heard you were in town looking for me, I was so excited. You and your little friends want to rescue me? To save me from this place, correct?”

“Yeah. To bring you home.”

“Well, that ship has sailed. This is my home now. However, maybe you can change my mind. You see, I learned things about the real world that I’d like to teach you too and perhaps in that process we can learn from each other. A symbiotic relationship if you will.”

Emmy had spent enough time with Eli to know what he looked like. She had his face and demeanors sealed in her memory. The way his hair was starting to go around his temples. They way his eyes sunk in when he didn’t get enough sleep. The way his hands would slowly gesture as he talked. How his walk became lazy after a long day at work. Eli had sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw. He had perfect teeth and always had to be reminded to clean the soot from under his nails.

“How do you--”

“How do I plan to do that, you ask? Like I said, this world works a little bit differently than up there. Like those pendants you wear, there is a bit of magic that I possess as well. I am what you would call a ruler down here. I call the shots and the world can bend at my will. Here’s the deal: you and your friends will come at every challenge I throw at you and perhaps we can have another conversation about my leaving. How you approach those challenges could teach me a lesson as well. Maybe change my mind. I understand you have a way out of this world. I will allow you to leave at anytime, but remember it comes with a catch! You leave and your memories will be reset. You have no way of remembering what I did to you or said once you go back. I, however, am not limited to that. I will remember and see everything you do while you are here.”

As he talked, Emmy noticed the differences in his person. Not just the obvious ones like the change in clothing choice. Normally he was more laid back with jeans and a loose tee shirt, but now he wore mostly all black with a tight blazer. He had his hair slicked back, accentuating his widow’s peak instead of wearing it loose and most likely freshly washed. She also noticed the small things. The way his teeth felt sharp and loud when he would talk. The way he would lean away from her instead of slouching towards her. She even noticed the way he looked disdainfully at the engagement ring on her finger and they way he constantly emphasised ‘friends’ like it was a bad word.

Emmy mustered up a little more courage between his words.

“And if we accept your challenges, what do we get in return?”

“If you complete all of my challenges in a single trip here, I will allow you to return to your world with no memory lost. Whether you end up going back with me or without me is up to you. So go ahead. Go back to your friends and teach me something, Emmy.”

“See you soon,” Emmy said coldly and walked out. She held her breath until she found Victor and Cadence walking out of a building.

“Hey, we found lodging,” Cadence said from afar.

“Emaline, are you okay?” Victor said, rushing towards her. Emmy let out a breath.

“We have to get inside,” Emmy said quickly before tears reached her eyes. Cadence and Victor lead her to the room they had gotten. It was a small room with two beds, a couch, and a fireplace. The fireplace had a sad looking pumpkin to make the room festive, but it was only making the room a little more smellier than it needed to be. Emmy sat on the end of one of the beds and stayed very still. She could tell that the other two were asking her questions and trying to grab water from the bathroom but the world was spinning around her.

“Emmy, you have to tell us what happened. We’re in this together,” Cadence reminded her.

“I found Eli,” she said breathlessly.

“You found him?” Victor asked, holding a glass of water.

“Did he come to the table like you thought?” Cadence asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, what happened?” Cadence asked, pushing her shoulder lightly. They each sat at her sides, making the bed dip to one side.

“He’s here to test us? Or for us to teach him? He’s- He’s not the same. He looks tired. He- He’s not my Eli,” she said, trying to fight back tears. She’s cried too much in the last few days. She can’t be weak now.

“What do you mean he’s going to test us?” Victor asked with a quiet voice.

“I don’t know. He said he’s like the ruler down here? That he’s in control and he’s going to test us. And if we fail, our memories will be reset,” Emmy explained the best she could.

“Yeah, that’s why we can’t fail,” Cadence said.

“But even more so, if we fail and lose our memories, he won’t. He’ll remember everything so every time we come back, he’ll get stronger and wiser. So we cannot fail, whatever the cost. We can’t give up,” Emmy said, spinning the ring on her finger.

“I wonder what the first challenge is,” Cadence said, standing up.

“Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to come right away so we should get some sleep,” Emmy proposed.

“Good idea,” Victor said.

The three tried to settle in for the night but the anxiety of what was to come took over their minds more than they thought it would. Emmy got up first, claiming to need more water. She turned the light on in the bathroom and left the door slightly ajar. She filled the cup of water from earlier and sat on the floor. The cool tile beneath her paired with the cool ceramic of the tub calmed her mind a little. Her eyes felt hot and begged her to close them, but she couldn’t. She now not only dragged two friends down to this place to save her fiance, but now had dragged them down here and put them in danger for her. She would forever live with that guilt.

Victor from the main room had seen Emmy get up and decided to join her. It wasn’t like he was getting any sleep either. He shuffled into the bathroom with a light knock. When he saw Emmy on the floor with her head resting on her knees, he almost thought she was asleep.

“How are you holding up?” he asked.

“Not great. Thanks for asking,” she said with a soft chuckle. She lifted her head up and wiped away the few tears drifting their way down her cheeks.

“Hey, it’ll be alright. We’ll save Eli. We’ll bring him home,” he said, wrapping his arm around her back and rubbing small circles into her shoulder.

“It’s not so much Eli I’m worried about. It’s you two. I feel bad having dragged you down here for me.”

“We came down here on our own volition. We came here for you because you’re our friend and Eli is our friend and we care for both of you.”

“You know, this is what got me into trouble in the first place,” she said, shaking her head.

“What?” Victor asked.

“Vic’s sweet talk. You always had a way with words. You always knew how to calm me down just as well as you could work me up.”

“That is true, I suppose. Maybe that’s why I was chosen as recorder. Whatever that means,” he said, pulling the pendant out from under his shirt.

“I wonder what these pendants do,” she said, pulling out hers as well.

“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow,” he said.

“What if we can’t do it?” Emmy said, quieter than she ever had.

“We can do it. If anyone can do it, you can. I believe in you,” he said, pulling her head into his chest and wrapping his arms around her.

“Thank you for being such a good friend, Vic,” she whispered and closed her eyes.

“I’ll never give up on you, Emaline,” he said and they both dozed off in the bathroom.

* * *

When they all woke up, there was itchy grass beneath them, but not the same patch of grass. Emmy got up first. She felt for the body that was keeping her warm against the bathroom tile, but it wasn’t there. She slowly got up and looked around. Corn?

Victor got up second. He felt grass beneath his fingers for a second and panicked. He got up quickly and looked around with wide eyes. Corn?

Cadence got up third. She stretched her back and yawned. She sat up and angrily shook the grass from her hair. She looked around her, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. Corn?

No. This couldn’t be real. They were all confused in their own ways and, in turn, worried about where the others were.


	8. Episode 8 - We May Have To Go Through A Maze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We may have to go through a maze  
> That is the challenge that life throws at you  
> Just climb that ladder  
> And fight your way through  
> The lesson is in the struggle  
> You may descend before you rise”

“The harvest festival is coming up soon,” Emmy had said to Eli while they sat on his couch a two years back.

“And you want me to go with you?” he asked, keeping his eyes on his phone.

“I think we should do little outfits. Like farmers or scarecrows,” she said, pulling out her sketchbook and starting a sketch.

“Don’t make it too gaudy. I don’t feel like dressing up too much this year.”

“How come? You loved dressing up with me,” she said, pushing her sketchbook aside and leaned into him.

“It’s just our corporate boss is coming from the city to come check in on things at work and he said he was going to join us at the harvest festival, so I don’t want to turn too many heads.”

“Why don’t we just go normally to ours and then we can go to the city and dress up all fun.”

“I don’t know, Emmy.”

“Come on, for me?” she asked, running her hands along his chest.

“Emmy--”

“There’s a giant corn maze at the one in the city. It could be fun,” she said.

“Fine. I’ll dress up for the one here. Just not too much, okay? Next time we can go all out,” he said.

“Alright, I understand. But we should go to the one in the city at some point. It looks fun,” she smiled.

“Maybe,” he said and kissed her.

* * *

“A corn maze,” Emmy said to herself. She brushed off any dead grass from herself and straightened her clothes. “Eli.”

Emmy put her right hand on the corn and marched forward. She didn’t know if she was alone or if her friends were out here too, but the best chance she had to find them was to find the end of the maze.

Victor rubbed his face and took a deep breath. He had to find the others. He knew they were out here. He wouldn’t be out here by himself. Unless Eli put him out here alone while he took the girls for the real challenge. He knew Eli always had something against him. Victor never seemed to mind. He understood Eli. 

Victor walked forward and started yelling, “Emmy! Cadence! Emaline!”

Cadence finally stood up and pulled her hair back. She looked up, trying to gauge where she was. There didn’t seem to be any sign of a sun, but it was light outside. She turned to the left and started walking. The other two had to be around here somewhere. She just needed to get out of this maze. She reached for her phone while she walked, but it wasn’t there. She distinctly remembered setting it on the nightstand beside the bed. She missed that bed. Warm and safe. Not outside.

As Emmy walked on through the maze, keeping her right hand to the wall as she remembered how she had solved mazes before, she thought about what Eli said. Was there really a lesson that she could teach him? Emmy thought that throughout most of their relationship, Eli was the one to teach her something. When she felt down about working late nights at the diner, he taught her that work shouldn’t be everything. That you should put your own mental health over a superficial job.

Emmy remembers the days when she was working eight or more hours shift, going well into the night. She had a lot of fun for awhile. To be honest, she had fun all of the time she got to work with Victor and Cadence, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that she was trying to start her own custom costume shop from home and so she would wake up early in the morning to work on projects. So juggling costume making, a boyfriend, and a full time job, there was rarely time in between for herself. She had at one point felt like she had forgotten what her hobbies were because she never had time for them. When Eli made her back off from working so much, she remembered how much she enjoyed baths and reading and baking. She remembered what it was like to have real dates and go to the movies or out to eat at nice restaurants. For a long time she couldn’t remember what it was like to get dressed up in fancy clothes to go anywhere.

A lot of her friends saw Eli telling her what to do and thought he had been too controlling, but in reality, he was really just looking out for what was best for Emmy. There was a lot of people, including Victor and Cadence, that had said Eli was being mean or controlling, but because of Eli’s hard exterior, they didn’t understand the true motives behind it.

Victor kept walking and he swore this maze was made of circles. He felt like he had been going around the same corners over and over again. He didn’t see the point of Eli putting him or anyone through this. What lessons would this teach him? To not trust corn ever again? He tried going straight through the corn stalks, but he would just hit a hard, invisible barrier and bounce right back onto the track. There was strange forces holding this place together. He had never dealt with magic up close like this before, and so far it wasn’t making a very good first impression.

The endless walk made him think about Emaline. But then, when wasn’t he thinking about Emaline? It was hard to let her go all those years ago, but he knew her heart wasn’t in it. He was happy for her. Really, truly happy. But he couldn’t just ignore what he felt. She was his best friend. They had become best friends ever since she started working at the diner. When Eli started dating her and spending more time, he wasn’t so much jealous that Eli was smarter or more handsome, it was more that he got to spend time with Emmy every free second she had. Emmy was a busy girl, juggling trying to make a living with living out her life-long dream. Then to add a boyfriend into the mix, his personal time with her dwindled to a big fat zero.

He threw himself into his work. He kept up his steady job, practicing his poetry and cooking while learning to take time for himself. He made new friends and him and Cadence spend more time together. Now that she spends most of her free time with Nix, however, he’s starting to feel that loneliness creep up again. He kept walking in circles.

Cadence turned another corner. Dead end. Turned another corner. Dead end. She just wasn’t adept at going through mazes apparently. She grunted at another dead end and wanted to scream. This was impossible. Why was she doing this? Emmy, right.

When Emmy left, she was sad, but understood. She wanted to be fine with it, but she wasn’t. She tried not to think about her as much, but with having Victor around, that wasn’t something she could do. Every time she thought she had forgotten Emmy, Victor would bring her up or Emmy would come into the diner. So she switched her shifts. She started taking time for herself. Going to the beach. Then she met Nix. Nix was wonderful and supportive and understood how Cadence felt. Shared her feelings even. Cadence became happy again. Now that Emmy came into her life again, she had to learn to juggle the two for the first time. She loved the both of them, but getting dragged down here with Emmy really wasn’t something she expected. She loved spending time with Emmy and Victor, but she wished that Nix could be here too. She wanted Nix to join their crew and be a part of their adventures, but she couldn’t. She was bound to the water. Nix was stubborn and liked her life in the sea. She liked Cadence too, but something Cadence felt like she didn’t like her enough to make sacrifices. 

Cadence took a deep breath and remembered her goals. She wanted to change. She wanted to be less selfish and remember that even if it doesn’t seem like your friends are making sacrifices, sometimes you have to make the sacrifices first. She turned another corner and there was a long path. Finally.

Emmy tried to cross between the corn. Maybe it would be faster. It didn’t work. She heard a low growl. Then a scream. Victor. She turned her head towards the noise. She went to run towards it, but that would mean losing her place on her journey with the right wall. She feet twitched. She felt like she was getting close to the end. Running towards Victor would mean backtracking. Another yelp. She took off sprinting in that direction, turning corners and smacking herself into dead ends. She started to hyperventilate.

“Victor,” she screamed. “Victor!”

There was another scream.

“Victor, where are you!”

She kept running.

“Emaline?” She heard his voice.

There was shuffling and then there was a slam. Victor came right through the wall of corn and ran right into her. They fell back and hit the ground. There was a pain in Emmy’s hip. There was a scrape against Victor’s elbow.

“Emaline,” he said, quickly wrapping her in a hug. His breath was ragged and quick. “You don’t know how happy I am to see you.”

“Have you been going through this maze too?” Emmy asked and Victor sat up a little bit. Their faces were only a few inches apart and Emmy then noticed the pressure of his long legs tangling around her. She didn’t really want to move.

“Yes. I was doing fine until something growled and it kept getting louder and louder, so I started running and then I heard you. Oh, I was so glad to hear you,” he said, his breath hitting Emmy’s face like ocean waves.

“We need to find Cadence, then,” Emmy said, pushing him off of her and standing up. She brushed the dirt off her backside and brushed leaves out of her hair. Victor stood up as well, brushing off some of the dirt but ultimately leaving most of it. There was leaves settled in his hair from jumping through the corn. Emmy reached out and shook it out.

“Thanks,” he said with a crooked smile and turned to keep walking.

“Victor,” Emmy said, her breath stopping her from saying anything more. Her mouth hung open.

“Yes?” he asked, turning around. His eyes shined bright and his hair looked soft. It was soft.

“This is all my fault,” she finally said.

“Em, no. We’re here for Eli. This is whatever force that stole him’s fault. Not yours. Not his.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I wanted to come here. To a corn maze.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Back when I first started dating Eli, I told him about a corn maze in the city and he got all defensive. Maybe that argument has to do with why we are in a corn maze now.”

“Okay. Good observation,” he said and started writing in his little pocket book.

“What are you doing?”

“Writing that down. I am the scribe after all. Besides we can take our data and compare it to the next challenges and maybe it’ll help us,” he explained.

“The next challenges?”

“You didn’t think you were going to lure Eli away from this place he created just by solving a corn maze, do you?”

“Well, I knew that Eli was stubborn, but he isn’t evil. He’s not going to put us in true danger,” Emmy said, moving her shaking hands up to the wall or corn. Time to keep moving. She walked forward and Victor fell in step with her, trusting that she knew what she was doing.

“I mean you never know. Like you said, he’s been down here a long time, so who knows how much he’s changed,” Victor said, shrugging with his whole body. That was Victor for you. Every movement, every statement, every thought was carried out with a large dramatic gestures. He didn’t just sit, he threw himself on chairs. He didn’t just jump, he lept. He didn’t just breathe, he moved the air. Everything about him was larger than life. He was a lot to handle.

“I know him. I’ve seen him. He’s my _fiance_. He would never hurt me.”

“Let’s just get out of this maze and see where the time takes us,” Victor said.

After awhile, Emmy spoke up, “Victor you don’t think Eli would ever hurt me, do you?” She held her stomach with her free hand and looked at the floor.

“Oh Emmy. That's not what I—” he began to say.

“Emmy! Victor!” they heard Cadence’s voice. She came around the corner and ran into them. “Oh thank goodness you’re here. I feel like I’ve been wandering around for hours by myself. Did you guys get dropped here together or did you find each other?”

There was a loud growl.

“There’s no time. We have to go,” Victor said, grabbing each of the girl’s hands and started running.

The turned corners and ran into dead ends, but they couldn’t stop. The growling became snarls and the snarls became panting and the noise grew louder and louder. The three were losing their energy fast.

“I see a light,” Cadence yelled, pointing to the left of them. The light was bright against a sky that became dark while they were running.

“Let’s go then,” Emmy said and they started to run around corners towards the light.

There was a yelp and a thud and Cadence’s hand slipped from Victor’s. The other two turned and stopped running. Cadence scrambled to get back up again, and then they all turned to stare at the creature behind them. Drool hung from its jaw and teeth bared themselves with hot pants in their direction. It dug its claws further into the dirt and Emmy got enough senses to grab her friends and started running again towards the bright light. They turned a few more corners, their hearts racing even more that they were aware of what was on their trail. Suddenly they ran into a wall of light and everything went dark.

“Congratulations,” a voice that they all could hear said. They recognized the voice as Eli’s even though they couldn’t see him. “You have completed the challenge for today. I started you off easy, but I’m learning your strengths and weaknesses. Be careful out there. Teach me something more worthwhile next time.”

They stumbled into the middle of the hallway and fell to the ground. The hallway was empty aside from their bodies and deep breathing.

“We did it,” Victor said after catching his breath.

“We did it,” Cadence smiled, giving him a hug.

“No!” Emmy yelled, pushing herself off the ground. “No! This can’t just be the first. I want you home. I want you home, Eli!” The hallway echoed her voice and she fell to her knees.

“Emmy,” Cadence said as she placed her hand gently on Emmy’s shoulder. “It’s fine. We’ll keep fighting.”

“No, we shouldn’t need to fight,” she whispered to the floor.

“Let’s get some food,” Victor said, grabbing Emmy’s hand and pulling her up. “Trust me.” He looked her in the eyes and she nodded her head.

Emmy and Cadence followed him down to the bar they had been at before. They chose a table that wasn’t The Table and ordered food and drink. Something fried and made with a lot of butter for each of them.

“I’m sorry for dragging you guys down here,” Emmy said quietly after the waitress had left.

“Stop apologizing. We wanted to come,” Cadence said.

“You wanted to come help me talk Eli into coming home, not getting chased by monsters.”

“We’re with you no matter what happens.”

“What if something bad happens to you two?” Emmy asked.

“Then you’ll heal us, right?” Victor said, pointing to her pendant.

“I hope I never have to use this,” she said, twirling it between her fingers.

“I hope so, too, but we never know what this life is going to throw at us.”

“Besides, above all that, we have a fail safe, right?” Victor said, nodding to Emmy’s engagement ring.

“No. We do this is one go. I’m not leaving without Eli.”

“Emmy, its okay. We can come back and try again,” Cadence reasoned.

“No. Then we lose our memories and he gets stronger.”

“I didn’t say it was my first option, but it is an option if things get ugly,” Cadence said.

“If we go back, we have to deal with that party,” Emmy said through her teeth.

“What do you mean?” Cadence asked. 

“We have to go back to that party. I said I was going out for ice. I have to deal with people being happy and trying to make me feel better when I know- I _know_ it was me who didn’t save Eli. I promised myself I would bring him back to that party. If we fail now, I have to go back for a week knowing, but not knowing, that we failed somehow.”

“We’ll finish this. I promise, one way or another, we’ll finish this,” Victor said with perfect clarity, reaching out and grabbing her hand.

“Let’s go back to our room and get some rest,” Cadence said, nodding her head to the side and then getting up out of her chair. 

They all got some much needed rest. It was easier for Emmy to sleep knowing she had her friends at her side protecting her. They awoke however to a very cold morning.

With shivering arms and chattering teeth, Emmy decidedly said, “I’m going to make some tea.”

There was a kettle and a tea selection near the door and the steam from the kettle could be seen in the morning air.

“I’m putting on the fire,” Victor said, grabbing wood from the pile next to the fireplace and working at it to get the fire going.

“I-I’m going to find warmer clothes,” Cadence said, backing away from the fireplace and heading out the door.

“Victor, you know that Cadence hates fire,” Emmy said, pouring herself a cup.

“Well, what else are we supposed to do? It doesn’t seem like the central heating work here. Otherwise, they would have already put it on.

“Just hurry up and get it contained before she comes back,” she said and sat on the bed to watch him. Victor’s broad shoulders blocked most of the action from Emmy, but it’s not like Emmy had anything better to do.

“How do you think these pendants work?” she asked.

“I’m not sure now, but hopefully we’ll know when the time comes to use them,” Victor said. The fire was up and running in no time and Emmy poured another hot cup of tea for herself and Victor. They sat on the ground next to the fire, warming their legs and faces. The hot mugs kept their hands and hearts warm. Victor set his cup down next to him and laid back on the ground. He stretched his arms over his head and wiggled his toes. He gave a loud yawn and a large breath of relief. Emmy felt her face getting hotter and she told herself it was the fire. She turned her back toward it and made herself close her eyes.

“I can’t wait to be home again,” Emmy said, her eyes slowly opening as she talked.

“When we come back with Eli, are you still going to have your wedding on the date you set or will you just get it done as soon as possible?” Victor asked from the floor.

“I think I will still have it on the date. Might even have to postpone it.”

“Postpone? Why?”

“Eli needs time to readjust,” she said and paused. “Besides, my dress is going to take longer to make than I thought.”

“You’re making your dress?” Victor asked, leaning his head up to look at her.

“Of course.”

“Can I see it?”

“Well I don’t have a picture or anything, but I’ll tell you it’s white,” she said and laughed lightly.

“Ha, ha. Describe it to me then,” Victor said, closing his eyes again.

“Well, right now there is long sleeves and a bell skirt. It has a sweetheart neckline. I’m planning to maybe add a corset or perhaps make the skirt tulle. I want embroidery of course, but I don’t know where. Maybe the sleeves or in the veil. I know I want it floor length with a full skirt. I might make it sleeveless or add an illusion neckline. My mother might not like that. Maybe it shouldn’t even be white. Maybe off-white or cream or a soft pink. I can’t decide. That’s what’s taking most of the time. I just want it to be perfect,” Emmy went on and on.

“Those all sound like good ideas. Whatever you come up with, I’m certain you’ll look beautiful,” Victor said, looking her in the eyes with a soft smile.

“Winter clothes!” Cadence shouted, bursting into the room. She was wearing a large rainbow jacket and a snow white beanie to contrast her blue hair. Her boots came nearly to her knees and there was a pile of clothes bursting out of the bag in her hand. She threw the bag towards the other two and Emmy started to rifle through it. Cadence went to pour herself a cup of tea.

There was a couple of snowflakes fluttering in the air landing on the bag.

“Was it snowing outside, Cadence?” Emmy asked.

“No, why?”

“It’s snowing in here,” Victor said, seeing more and more snowflakes landing on the ground around them.


	9. Episode 9 - The Snow Fairy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “And suddenly my thoughts then turned to you  
> Who came to me upon a winter’s night,  
> When snow-sprites round my attic window flew,  
> Your hair disheveled, eyes aglow with light.  
> My heart was like the weather when you came,”

The air around them got colder, the light brighter. The walls and warm fire disappeared and replaced with an endless white terrain. The snow clothes that Cadence had gotten sat under a pile of snow. Cadence buttoned her jacket and pulled her beanie down further. Victor and Emmy rushed to grab things for themselves. Thankfully, Cadence had gotten enough so that everyone had warm boots, a thick jacket, beanies, and gloves.

“What are we doing here?” Cadence asked.

“Another challenge from Eli,” Emmy said, completely sure of herself.

“At least he waited till we got some rest,” Victor said.

“No, don’t say that!” Emmy exclaimed.

“What? Why?”

“That’s how he’s getting stronger. He must be able to hear us,” Emmy said, searching around. Every horizon was lined with snow. There didn’t seem to be any clear path.

“Everything we say?” Victor asked.

“And do,” Emmy said, taking a step forward.

“Where are we going?” Cadence asked.

“Forward.”

Victor and Cadence followed her, but no one understood how to get out of this situation. They walked what felt like hours. Suddenly, a large chime went off.

“What was that?” Victor asked. “It sounded like it came from the sky.”

“An hour maybe?” Cadence suggested.

“Maybe we’re getting closer,” Emmy added.

“To what?” Victor asked.

“Not sure,” Emmy said, her voice wavering. The wind started to pick up. Snow blew at their faces.

“It’s getting colder,” Cadence said.

“Mark down how many chimes we hear while we are out here,” Emmy commanded Victor.

He took out his book and marked a tally.

“Let’s keep going,” Emmy said, pulling at her coat’s collar and started moving forward again. She could feel the ice hitting her face and her socks beneath her boots soaked with water. She had to keep going. Get to wherever Eli wanted her to be.

They kept walking.

Another chime.

They walked some more.

Another chime.

They walked some more.

Another chime.

“It’s too cold to be wandering around aimlessly!” Cadence shouted from behind. The wind was blowing them backwards and the snow in the air made a foot in front of them barely visible.

“We’re not moving aimlessly,” Emmy said. “The wind is moving towards us so Eli must want us to move against it.”

“You know best,” Cadence said. They were all walking in a single file line so if Victor was saying anything, Emmy couldn’t hear him. Emmy kept pressing on despite the fact that she couldn't feel her hands or her feet or her face. Her eyelashes were basically snowflakes and her lips were like sandpaper.

“I can’t see,” Cadence said, reaching her arm out and touching Emmy’s shoulder.

“Okay, stop,” Emmy said, turning around to face her. Victor slammed into Cadence and knocked her forward a little.

“What’s going— Emmy, look at your face,” Victor said suddenly, moving closer to her.

“I’m fine. It’s cold. The snow is getting too thick. Link hands so we don’t lose each other,” Emmy said, grabbing Cadence’s hand. Cadence, in turn, grabbed Victor’s hand.

“We need to find shelter,” Cadence said.

“There,” Victor said, pointing behind Emmy. Emmy had so much snow in her face she didn’t even realise the mountain just on the horizon.

“We need to go,” Emmy said, turning her face towards that mountain.

“Wait,” Victor said. He took off his beanie and turned it inside out. “This is going to be weird, but trust me.”

Emmy stood very still as he came closer to her. He put his beanie on her face and started rubbing. His beanie was a little wet from the snow but mostly warm. The ice on her face started to melt. When he pulled back, she rubbed the water off with her wrist and blinked. She could see. Victor and Cadence’s faces were also flushed red from the cold and wind.

“Let me lead,” Victor said firmly.

“No. I’m fine.”

“You’re going to get hypothermia.”

“I’m fine. No discussion. Let’s go,” Emmy said, grabbing Cadence’s hand and making large steps forward. “Don’t fall behind. We’re almost there.”

They all breathed heavily through their noses, knowing that if they opened their mouth the cold would go straight to their lungs with no mercy. As the mountain grew larger, another chime went off and the wind became so loud they couldn’t hear their own footsteps. Emmy’s legs were shaking and eventually it all became too much. She fell to the ground on her knees. Cadence tried to catch her fall, but she was too quick. They rush around her, panicking.

“Emmy, are you okay?” Cadence asked.

“I’m tired,” Emmy mumbled.

“No, no, no,” Victor said, pulling her up. He took off his glove and felt her forehead. “Ice cold. We need shelter and we need it now.” He took his gloves and put it over her and then switched their beanies. Hers was much colder than his.

“Victor, no. You need your gloves,” Emmy said, her teeth chattering. She was surprised they could even understand her.

“You need them more than I do,” he wrapped his arm under her shoulder and Cadence got the otherside. Emmy could feel Cadence become weaker as they trekked on, but Victor stayed solid. He was strong and had more muscle to keep him going further than the two girls. Emmy wanted to sleep, but she knew she couldn’t. They kept walking. The mountain was so close.

They came upon the tall cliff and there was a large cave sheltered from the snow.

“Finally,” Cadence cheered, her head perking up.

“Get inside, now,” Victor said, pulling them inside. He found a wall and sat Emmy upright against it. He pulled off both her gloves. Her fingers were starting to turn blue.

“Oh damn,” Emmy said, looking at her hands. “I couldn’t feel them. I didn’t know.”

“We need to find something to make fire,” Victor said, rubbing her hands in his.

“How are you staying so warm?” Emmy asked.

“I was in the back. You guys were blocking most of the wind. That’s why I wanted to switch for the lead.”

“I just didn’t want—“

“Emmy, you have to trust us. We’re in this just as much as you are. You wanted to get this done on the first try right?” he said, his voice raising but his hands staying gentle.

“Yes,” Emmy whispered.

“Then we have to work as a team. Cadence, you stay with Emaline and make sure she doesn’t fall asleep. I’m going to find wood,” Victor said and stood up. He took his gloves and walked back outside.

The cave was silent as the girls watched him disappear into the wall of white.

“Come here, let’s share some body heat,” Cadence said, opening her jacket. Emmy leaned into her and she wrapped her arms around Cadence’s torso. Her hands felt a little better against Cadence’s warmer back. Emmy still couldn’t take her eyes off the cave opening.

“He shouldn’t have gone,” she said, her eyes feeling heavy.

“He wanted to help.”

“You saw what it looked like out there. Where does he think he is going to find anything to make fire?”

“I don’t know, but there was nothing you can do to stop him.”

“Why won’t he just think before he does something?”

“Emmy, you’re getting frustrated because we’re trying to help you. You need to learn how to let other people help. I’m sure Victor is mad too because it seems like you’re not very appreciative. He just wants to hear a simple thank you rather than you telling him he shouldn’t have done whatever it is he did.”

“Is that really how I’m acting?” Emmy said, her chin pressing further into Cadence’s shoulder.

“It kind of is.”

“I’m sorry. Thank you for the help.”

“Thanks for the thanks,” Cadence said and her back moved with her laugh.

“This really sucks being out here,” Emmy said, leaning against the wall.

“Yeah it kind of does. I don’t think you're built for subzero temperatures.”

“I don’t think anyone is.”

The cave went silent. Emmy’s eyes snapped to the cave door again and stayed there for a minute. Cadence took notice of her gaze.

“He’ll be fine,” Cadence said.

“We should go after him,” Emmy said, trying to get up.

“No, no, no. Our best chance out here is if we stay put. Besides you’re not in the best condition to go out right now.”

“Fine,” Emmy said. They both sat leaned against each other and waited for Victor to come back.

They heard another chime.

There was a break in the endless wind and the girls heard distant footsteps. Emmy sat up straight.

“Victor,” she said once she saw his figure come through the snow. She got up immediately and ran towards him. Her arms wrapped around him in relief. He stood shocked for a second and then gave in. He wrapped his long arms around her shoulders and pressed his chin into her beanie.

“Glad to see you made it alive,” Cadence said and he opened his arm to let her join the hug. Once they all pulled away, they waited for Victor to share his news.

“I didn’t find any firewood, obviously, but I did find something else. As I was walking east of here, assuming that the cave is north, I saw a blinking light in the distance. It was too cold and I didn’t get close enough to see what it is, but if we all go together, I think we can make it.”

“Thank you, Victor. Thank you for all your help,” Emmy said, smiling.

“Let’s go find that light,” Cadence cheered.

“No, I need some rest,” Victor said, sliding down against the cave wall.

“We should air out our socks and boots so they don’t dry all gross,” Emmy pointed out and they all began to do just that.

They all sat quiet in the cave, finally getting some rest from the cold.

“Are your feet okay?” Victor asked quietly. Emmy watched his breath fog up the air in front of him.

“Cold, but okay,” she said, a cloud of her breath rising in front of her face.

“That’s good. And your hands are better?”

“Not freezing off anymore.”

There was more silence.

“Are you okay?” Emmy asked Victor. Her voice sounded small and far away in the echoing cave.

“I saw something out there,” he said, closing his eyes and frowning.

“The light, right?”

“No, something else,” he whispered.

Cadence sat forward and paid attention.

“What else?” Cadence asked.

“I think we should go soon,” Victor said.

There was a chime. Victor took out his book and marked down another tally. There was quite a few.

“We’ve been here awhile now, huh?” asked Emmy.

“Yes. It’s starting to get dark. We need to go,” he said, getting up off the floor.

“But it’s cold out there,” Cadence whined.

“Come on,” Emmy said, grabbing her arm and pulling the two of them to their feet. The ground was wet and cold, but Emmy had a feeling they’d soon be gone from this snowy wasteland. They all put their socks and boots back on. After taking them off, it just made putting them on that much harder. The socks were not as wet but much colder from the air.

“Let’s huddle together and switch off who’s in front. I’ll lead first so we can get a sense of which direction we’re heading and when we start to get too cold, we’ll rotate. Got that?” Victor explained.

“Got it,” Cadence said.

“We’re a team,” Victor said, holding out his hand.

Emmy grabbed it first, then Cadence, and then they all shook on it.

“Let’s go,” Victor said and they started the journey back out in the blizzard. It seemed much worse than they remembered. Maybe going back without their memories might be better than they thought.

They all drudged on to the east of the cave and when Victor got too cold, he traded with Cadence. She walked on for awhile and then stopped short.

“What’s going on?” Emmy shouted.

Cadence just pointed straight ahead. Emmy and Victor’s hearts lept, thinking it was the mysterious light but instead it was a person just off to the distance a little. Emmy leaned over Cadence’s shoulder to get a better look and then her breath hitched when she saw what it was.

“Eli,” she said and moved to the front, walking towards him.

They met face to face between the snow. He looked untouched by any ice or snow. He was wearing a long black leather coat, fingerless gloves, and thick black boots.

“Good evening, Emmy,” Eli said calmly.

“Eli, what are we doing out here?” Emmy asked and she could feel Victor and Cadence’s hands pressing on her shoulders.

“Teaching and learning.”

“Learning what? Don’t go out in a blizzard?”

“You’ll recognize it soon enough. Thanks for the tips by the way. See you soon,” he said and turned around.

“No, Eli! Come back!” Emmy shouted after him but he took a couple steps and he was gone. Emmy ran forward, leaving Victor and Cadence behind. She tripped on some ice and fell to the ground.

“No!” she screamed, slamming her fists into the snow.

“Emmy,” she heard Cadence call from behind her. Cadence grabbed Emmy’s shoulders and pulled her upright. “Emmy, we need to go.”

“Why does he keep leaving me?” Emmy shouted at the air.

“Oh, Emmy,” Cadence said, pulling her in a hug. “He’ll get there. It’s too early for him is all.”

Emmy wanted to stay in the hug longer but the cold was hitting her back and she couldn’t take it any longer.

“The light is there. We should go,” Victor said calmly.

“Yeah. Let’s get out of the cold,” Emmy said and started walking with them. As they got closer to the light, the snow and wind started to die down and they could see a door starting to form. Emmy put her hand on the handle and it opened with ease. They stepped through and everything went black again.


	10. Episode 10 - A Walk in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I don't know what lies ahead of me.  
> But I'm willing to take a chance.  
> The moon shines in my eyes.  
> My thoughts run through my head.  
> I feel lost and alone.  
> Hurt and broken.  
> But when I'm out here,  
> I feel like a completely different person.  
> I get to be me.  
> I get to be free.  
> I see the end of the sidewalk.  
> The path separates into three.”

“Eli, I don’t think this is the right place,” Emmy said, sitting in the car in her handmade scarf as snow blew hard against the windshield.

“Nonsense. I’ve been here a million times. I know where I’m going,” Eli said, leaning forward to try and see the road signs. It was nearly impossible at this point. Emmy tried to tell him to pull over at the last rest stop, but Eli had a hard time taking direction while he was driving.

“Eli, we should turn back. I don’t think it’s safe out here. Are we even on a main road?” she asked, turning her paper map to try and get her bearings.

“I know where I’m going, Em—“ he started to shout, turning his head to look at her, when suddenly the car started to lurch forward over the ice and spin. There was a dip and they slid down a hill. Eli tried to stop the car and Emmy’s stomach felt like it was in her mouth.

There was a loud thud and then the car stopped. There was so much snow piled on them you couldn’t even see out the front window. Emmy started to panic. Air came in her lungs but didn’t seem to come out.

“Emmy, are you okay?” Eli said, reaching out to touch her.

“No!” she yelled between breaths. “You drove us into a ditch in the middle of a snowstorm!” Tears started welling up in her eyes.

“Okay, yes. I’m sorry,” he said, grabbing her hand. “Take deep breaths. Deep breaths.”

Emmy did as she was told. It was very rare she had a panic attack out of anger.

“We should stay with the car until the snow calms,” Eli said, looking out the window. He could only see trees and snow. There was no way they could find a town in this weather.

“We have to stay here?” Emmy said, her breath growing quicker again.

“It’s fine. We have plenty of blankets and food to last us the night. The weatherman said there wasn’t even supposed to be a storm so it shouldn’t last long.”

“Alright, fine,” she said, taking a deep breath. Eli reached into the back of the car and grabbed a couple of the blankets. Emmy wrapped herself in one and pouted in her seat.

* * *

“Fire!” Victor said, bursting through their room’s doorway. “We need warmth!” He grabbed some of the firewood piled by the door and immediately went to make another fire. Emmy turned on the kettle and started taking off her wet clothes. She was left with a jacket and leggings.

“I’m going to take a really hot shower,” Cadence said, taking off her boots and gloves and going right for the bathroom.

“You need to get into warm _dry_ clothes,” Emmy told Eli as he started up the fireplace. “Give me your socks, gloves, and beanie and I’ll throw them in the dryer downstairs.”

“Okay, thanks,” he said, sitting on the floor near the fire. It felt so good even just standing near it after the day they had. Emmy grabbed all the wet clothes and some dry ones for herself to change into. She went down stairs to the laundry room and after throwing things into the dryer, she went to change in the lobby bathroom.

“Rough day?” the lady at the front counter said before Emmy went in.

Emmy looked at her. This was really the first time someone she didn’t know spoke to her. Emmy could feel her cheeks red with wind burn. She could imagine her hair sticking up in all sorts of directions. The clothes she had on were damp and wrinkled. What could this woman possibly have imagined Emmy was doing today? What do people around here do?

“Yeah, it was. How was your day?” Emmy asked, genuinely curious.

“It was fine. Thanks for asking,” she said and went back to whatever she was reading behind the desk.

“What’s your name?” Emmy asked her.

“Tara,” she said with a smile.

“Nice to meet you Tara. Can I ask you, if I happened to have a free day to spend doing something fun around town, where would I go?”

“Something fun? Like recreationally?”

“Yeah, what do you do on your days off?”

“Oh, I mostly just stay at home. Maybe eat somewhere. There isn’t a whole lot of do around here outside of working.”

“Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I’m Emmy, by the way. Didn’t introduce myself earlier,” she said, holding out her hand.

“The Emmy?” Tara asked.

“Um, I guess. Do you know who I am?” Emmy asked, confused.

“You’re Eli’s Emmy?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry. We aren’t allowed to speak with you,” she said and closed the book on her desk and walked quickly into the back.

“Wait,” Emmy tried to call after her, but it was no luck. Tara was already gone. Emmy went to change and then came back upstairs.

“Hey, you’re back,” Victor said with his chipper voice. He had changed clothes. “Emaline, what’s wrong?”

“I had the strangest conversation with the lady at the front lobby,” Emmy said as she walked in and kept her eyes on the ground.

“What happened?”

“Well, first she said that she doesn’t do much around here besides work,” Emmy said as Victor held her by her shoulders and they sat on the bed together. “That wouldn’t surprise me if she had only said she liked to stay at home or needed the money from working, but she made it more apparent that it was the only thing here to do. Besides, I haven’t seen any sort of recreation-related structures around here besides places to eat.”

“The pub was kind of fun. Maybe it’s just a slow town,” Victor offered.

“But at the pub there wasn’t any music playing. No one was playing any games. It was just people sitting around eating. Doesn’t that seem strange?”

“I guess you’re right.”

“That wasn’t the weirdest thing. After she found out my name, she said that I was ‘The Emmy’ and knew that I was connected to Eli.”

“Okay, strange.”

“Then she said that she wasn’t _allowed_ to speak to me.”

“So Eli knows we are here and has spoken to the staff?” Victor asked.

“Or Eli has communicated with everyone in town,” Cadence said, swinging open the bathroom door with a heavy cloud of steam.

Victor and Emmy just slightly jumped away from each other as the door slammed against the wall.

“You were listening?” Emmy asked.

“Of course. So what do you think that means for us?” Cadence asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s how Eli is always listening to us and finding out what we do,” Emmy said.

“Or maybe he’s hiding something,” Victor suggested.

“What could he be hiding?” Emmy asked.

“Something he clearly doesn’t want you to know about,” Cadence said.

“We never kept secrets from each other,” Emmy said.

Victor stood up.

“I’m going to check on the clothes,” he said and walked outside with no eye contact.

“No secrets at all?” Cadence asked.

“At least I thought we did,” Emmy said, sheepishly.

“Everyone has secrets. That’s just how it is,” Cadence said, drying her hair with a towel.

Emmy nervously rubbed her hands together and started perspiring.

“It’s hot in here. I’m going to take a walk,” Emmy said, walking out the door again.

She walked down the hall, trying to clear her head of the guilt she was feeling. She knew that everyone kept secrets. Of course they did. They wouldn’t be human if they didn’t. Hell, even she kept secrets. However, she didn’t think that Eli would need the backing of an entire town to keep a secret from her. She was desperate to get him back, just to have him here so they could talk. That’s all she wanted. Some open, honest communication. Without thinking, she eventually made her way down to the laundry room. Victor was pacing in front of the dryers, waiting for them to be finished. When he caught sight of Emmy, he was still for a moment and then gave a small smile.

“What?” Emmy asked.

“Nothing. It’s just-- come here,” he said, waving her over. Her heart started to pound. She wasn’t entirely sure why.

He pointed to an empty washer and when Emmy looked at it, she caught her reflection in the glass.

“Oh wow,” she said, trying to smooth down her hair and wipe the sweat and crud from her face. She desperately needed a shower. “I’m a mess.”

“A beautiful mess,” Victor said under his breath.

“What?” Emmy asked, not quite hearing all his words.

“Why’d you come down here?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

“Not sure. Needed to get away, I guess. I’m still a little confused.”

“About Eli?”

“Of course,” she said and they both leaned against the countertop.

“Emmy, even if he is keeping people in this town from speaking to you. Maybe it’s not for the reasons you think.”

“What do you think it is, then?”

“Maybe he just doesn’t want you to get additional help from the people down here. I mean, if you make friends then you might have people that could keep you informed for the time you lose after we leave.”

“That could be true. But even so, doesn’t it seem like things here don’t quite line up. Maybe there is some secret he’s trying to keep from me.”

“Perhaps, but it’s not like he’s kept things from you before. Plus, he’s changed since he came here. You said it yourself.”

“I hate secrets, no matter whose they are.”

“Life wouldn’t be life without secrets. It’s not like you haven’t kept things from him.”

Emmy shot him a harsh look.

“It is never to be discussed again. You promised. I promised,” Emmy said.

“I know. I know. I’m not discussing it. I’m just making a point. Life is messy, but it wouldn’t be interesting if it was easy.”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Emmy said with a sigh of defeat.

“We don’t have to talk,” Victor said, drumming his fingers on the table.

Emmy tried to stay silent, but anxiousness was brewing inside of her.

“No, I have to _do_ something,” she said, putting her hands out in front of her face. Whenever she was worked up about something, she would turn to her projects. Start making a dress or most of the time start embroidering something. However, she didn’t have any of that here.

“Come on, let’s take a walk.”

“It’s the middle of the night,” she said.

“Then grab your coat,” he said.

“It’s in the--” The dryer timer went off. “--dryer. Alright, a short walk.”

They both grabbed their warm clothes from the dryer and went outside. Tara at the front desk gave them a nervous look before they walked out.

“Do you think she’s feeding Eli information?”

“Let her,” Victor said, his voice causing soft clouds of steam in front of his face. The moon was really bright tonight. “What have we to hide?”

Emmy turned her attention back to the ground and her cheeks grew warm. The walk was quiet and dark for a while, but as they rounded a corner, they noticed a patch of illuminated buildings ahead.

“Hey, let’s check that out!” Victor said excitedly.

“I don’t know. Don’t you think it’s weird that something is bustling like that so late at night?” Emmy said, tugging at the sleeve of her coat and looking at the moon high in the sky. It felt like it was staring at her.

“I think it’s lucky for us there is something to do,” he said and pulled her behind him. They reached the area ahead and found it was a little night market. Things were open and there were a few groups walking in and out of the shops.

“Wow, this is really cool,” Emmy said, looking at all the trinkets and items for sale. She brushed her hand over a soft scarf sitting on a table in the first shop they encountered.

“I wonder why this is here?” Victor said, looking around.

Emmy picked up the scarf she was looking at and admired it’s fabric.

“Cashmere,” she whispered and ran it through her fingers. It was a forest green color and was extra long in length.

“That would look really pretty on you,” Victor said, popping out from behind a rack of coats. He grabbed one end of the scarf from her and wrapped it around her neck. “See?”

Emmy leaned over to a small mirror by the sunglasses.

“It would be even better with some gold detailing on the end,” she said, ignoring her disheveled hair and greasy face and directing her eyes to the ends of the scarf.

“Come on, I’ll get it for you,” Victor said and Emmy’s gaze shot up at him.

“No. No. It’s expensive. How are you going to pay for it?”

“I brought my wallet. Don’t worry about it. I want to get it for you,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said, looking through her lashes at him.

“Come on,” he smiled and they walked to the counter, his hand gently resting on her back. He paid for the scarf and ripped the tag off for her.

“Vic, I don’t know what to say. You’re being so nice,” Emmy said as they stepped back outside.

“You say that like it’s a first,” he laughed.

“It’s not just the scarf. It’s everything. I don’t know if it’s just because we’re down here and away from real life or it’s just me noticing it for the first time in a long time, but you are and have always been really sweet to me. I don’t feel like I express my appreciation enough.”

“You do. I think you do in ways you don’t know you do,” he said and Emmy smiled to herself. She slipped her hand quietly into his as they walked. The lights and buildings around them kept the area warm, but Emmy didn’t dare take off the hat that was hiding her greasy hair or her new scarf. Emmy realised as they walked through all the little shops that, one, she was getting hungry and, two, that this was the first time down here that she actually felt happy.

“Cadence?” Emmy said as she looked over a rack of jeans. She pulled her hand away from Victor and walked over to Cadence, Victor right on her trail.

“Oh hey guys,” she said casually.

“What are you doing here?” Emmy asked.

“You were gone for so long, I decided to take a walk too and found this.”

“Sorry. I didn’t realise we were gone for so long.”

“It’s not a big deal. I’m getting kind of hungry though,” Cadence said, resting her hand on her stomach.

“Me too. Want to find a snack?” Emmy asked, looking mostly at Victor.

“I’m going to do some more looking around and I’ll catch up with you two later, okay?” he said.

“Sounds good,” Cadence said, heading towards a crepe stand she must have seen earlier.

“You’ll catch up with us soon, right?” Emmy asked.

“Of course. Go have fun with Cadence. I’ll find you,” he said and smiled.

Emmy walked off, jogging a little to catch up with Cadence. The girls found a crepe stand and Emmy got a strawberry crepe and a hot chocolate. Cadence got a double chocolate crepe and a coffee. They walked and found a little gazebo just outside the row of buildings.

“New scarf?” Cadence asked and Emmy nearly choked on her bite of crepe.

“Mhm, yeah,” she said with her mouth full.

“It’s pretty. Goes well with your skin tone,” Cadence said and nodded slowly.

“I’m sorry again for kind of disappearing. I swear it was meant to be a short walk.”

“It’s fine. I’m used to it. Just like old times again, right?” she said with a shortness about it.

“I’m sorry?” Emmy asked, confused.

“Back when we all worked together for the first time. We all know you and Victor were much closer than you and I. It’s fine. Really. I understand,” Cadence said, taking a sip of coffee.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” Emmy said, her mind feeling like it was spinning.

“You don’t have to. I’m not mad. It’s only facts. We can change the subject.”

“Yes please,” Emmy said, feeling the warmth from the scarf even more now.

“This place is interesting.”

“Yes, it is.”

“It feels like it was put here for a reason, though.”

“Does it?”

“Yeah, I think it’s for you,” Cadence said, looking over at Emmy.

“What? Like another challenge?”

“I’m not sure. But all the shops and food places seem to be things you like.”

“I did notice a lot of things I liked and I do think it’s really pretty.”

“I think maybe it was also meant for Victor?” she said like a question.

“What does that mean?” Emmy asked.

“I don’t know. But I think you might.”

“Found you guys,” they heard Victor’s voice as he walked towards them. He was holding a coffee cup and a bag.

“Hey, come sit down,” Emmy said and the girls moved over to make room.

The three were silent for a minute. Emmy was still trying to piece together what Cadence said. She didn’t even notice as she started to let her crepe tip down.

“Woah, woah. Careful there,” Victor said, grabbing her hand and tipping the crepe upwards again.

“Oh thanks,” she said, her gaze still on the lights from the market.

“You okay?” Victor asked.

“Yeah, just thinking,” Emmy said.

“That’s dangerous,” Victor said and started to laugh, but no one laughed with him so he stopped.

“I only just got here, so I think I’m going to keep taking a look around. Maybe talk to some people,” Cadence said, feeling the awkwardness in the air.

“Okay,” Emmy said and Cadence walked off.

“What’s on your mind?” Victor asked.

“Cadence thinks this is a challenge,” Emmy said.

“Really? How so?” he asked.

“She said that this market was made for me--”

“It does seem like a lot of the things you like.”

“--and you.”

“Me? Why me?”

“I have a theory, but I can’t say for certain,” Emmy said.

“What’s your theory?”

“I think he’s just trying to distract me,” she said.

“With fancy clothes and good food?”

“No,” she said quietly.

“Oh,” he said without his usual cheeriness.

“Yeah.”

They stayed quiet for awhile.

“Did you always see me like Eli did?” Victor said all of a sudden.

“What? How did Eli see you?”

“A distraction.”

“A distraction? From what?”

“Your dream job. Real life. Him.”

“Oh.”

“Well?”

“Sometimes it felt like that,” Emmy said.

“And other times?”

“Most of the time you felt overwhelming.”

“Overwhelming?”

“You were a lot to handle. Eli was easy. I didn’t have to worry about myself when I was with him. My life felt familiar with him. He felt like family. He supported me and helped guide me into being a grown up.”

“That doesn’t sound like fun to me,” Victor said.

“It didn’t need to be. He was what I needed at the time.”

“Needed? And now?”

“I don’t know what I need anymore. I was so sure of the two of us, but now? So much has changed.”

“Can I tell you something?”

“Sure.”

“I know you may not need to hear it, but I want to say it. I have always and will always support you. Your dreams and aspirations have always motivated me and thinking about you gave me courage when I really needed it. I don’t know if I told you this, but my mom got sick last year.”

“What?” Emmy asked, her voice catching.

“She has Crohn’s disease. It more commonly starts when you’re younger, but she got really bad stomach pains a couple months before she was diagnosed and the doctor said it was Crohn’s. She’s been losing a lot of weight and she gets waves of not being able to take care of herself for a few days to a week. She might have to go to surgery if there are any obstructions or abscesses, but right now she’s steady.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Emmy said, grabbing his hand in hers.

“Thanks. I just wanted to tell you because when she got diagnosed and was in the hospital for a few weeks, you were doing that charity show and your fire and determination really gave me a lot of strength. I saw you come in with your sketches or sheet of fabric, sitting at a table with Eli, and just talking for hours about how excited you were for all your projects. You would be sitting there, lit up like the Fourth of July, and I couldn’t help but feel joy even when everything in my life felt really grey. So I just wanted to say thank you, I guess.”

“Oh, Vic. That was really sweet. I had no idea,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

“I got you another present,” he said, leaning over to grab the bag he brought with him.

“What? No, you didn’t have to,” she said again.

“Please. You heard me. I want to. Think of it as a thank you present.”

Emmy looked inside the bag and pulled out a sewing kit, an embroidery ring, and lots of golden thread.

“An embroidery set?”

“You like to do this when you’re stressed and since you didn’t bring it with you, I thought I’d make up the difference. Besides, you wanted to add to the scarf, right?”

“Victor,” Emmy said, pulling a long breath in. She tried to keep the tears from coming, but she was such a crybaby. A couple of tears rolled down her face and then she pushed the bag aside so she could give Victor a hug. He held her for as long as she let him.

“The tears must add to my look tonight,” she said, wiping her face with her sleeve.

“You look perfect. Don’t stress. Come on, let’s get back to the room. You need sleep.”

“I can’t believe just this morning we were stuck out in a snowstorm.”

“I think a lot of our days are going to be like this from now on,” Victor said.

They caught Cadence looking at some necklaces and pulled her away so they could all walk back together.

“Maybe it wasn’t a challenge if we could just walk away so easily,” Cadence said.

They all went back to the room. Emmy took a shower first and after Cadence brushed Emmy’s hair while she started on her embroidery. Victor took a shower after and then immediately knocked out on his bed. Emmy put away her stuff and got into bed with Cadence. Emmy turned off the light between the beds and she layed, staring at the ceiling. She was afraid to sleep. The pattern only told her that when she awoke, she would be met with another challenge.

“Hey, Cadence,” Emmy whispered over Victor’s snores.

“Yeah?” Cadence whispered back, her voice groggy.

“I think the market was a challenge from Eli.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, and I think I failed.”


	11. Episode 11 - The Beauty in the Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If I'd met her in a cave  
> in the dark  
> where no light ever lived  
> she would still be the brightest thing I'd ever seen  
> for it always was the way she was  
> never the way she looked  
> that made her so beautiful to me  
> and beautiful she was  
> though I never let it blind me  
> for it was only when I closed my eyes  
> and stood in that darkest cave  
> that she truly blinded me  
> with beauty"

The sun peeked through the curtains and revealed all the particles of dust in the air. Emmy laid there in the bed, being soothed by the sound of Cadence’s even breathing and Victor’s soft snoring. They should wake up some time soon now. The sun was rising and nothing had transported them anywhere. Was it because she didn’t sleep? The market was there while they were still awake, but they walked into that. Emmy thought that if she just stayed awake and stayed put, then there would be no more challenges to harm her friends. She had to get up and find Eli at some point, though. Maybe now was her chance. She rose slowly out of bed, careful not to wake Cadence. She grabbed her coat, scarf, and shoes, and walked out the door.

Emmy started to trek down the main streets. Nothing seemed to be open yet. It was probably too early. She needed to talk to people and find out how she could talk to Eli. She knew no one would say anything even if she tried. The people she met around town were there only to serve her basic needs and maybe help along Eli’s plot, whatever that may be.

She made her way to the familiar pub they had gone to a couple times. To the side of the building, however, only now did she notice there was a wishing well. As she approached, she gave a long sigh.

“I wish I could just talk to Eli, even for a few minutes.”

She looked down at her reflection in the water and when she looked up, she was in a different space. It seemed to be a meadow, but when you looked closer, the plants were all starting to die and there was a thin layer of ash on top of all the plants.

Emmy began walking and ash flew in the air as her feet brushed the grass.

“Emmy?” she heard a voice behind her.

“Victor?” Emmy said as she turned towards the voice. There was no one there.

“Emmy,” she heard Cadence’s voice and Emmy turned towards it.

“Emmy,” she heard and turned to face Eli. He still had on black but with more layers and a darker appearance all together.

“Eli, thank goodness.”

“You wanted to speak with me?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think it would be that easy.”

“All you have to do is ask and I’ll be there. I’m not trying to hide from you.”

“What do you want?”

“To listen to you. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted me to do?”

“Yes it is. So listen. You need to come home. This place is hurting you. It’s destroying all the good inside. I can see you changing.”

“Oh I am changing. But more for the better. You see, this place only reveals what’s underneath. It cannot create new traits in us, just enhance the ones we try so hard to hide.”

“You were never an evil person in the real world.”

“Oh but I could have been, given the right motivation.”

“Do you think this world is changing me?”

“Oh I know it is. I designed it to,” he said, reaching out to touch my scarf.

“So that was you,” Emmy said. 

“Yes, and when he breaks your heart like you did mine, that’ll be me as well,” Eli said with a smile.

“What does that mean?”

“Never mind that right now. I think you have someplace to be.”

“No I don't. I have to be here with you and I won’t leave till you come home with me.”

“You might want to rethink that,” he said and walked past her. When Emmy turned around, there was that well again. Eli looked inside and so did she. In the reflection of the water, she didn’t see herself staring back but an image of Victor and Cadence walking slowly through a canyon. They were both sweating and panting, obvious signs of exhaustion and dehydration on their faces.

“When did they get there?” Emmy asked, panicked.

“Hours ago. I told you, time works to my advantage.”

“We need to help them. You put them there, take them out. Now.”

“I’m not going to do that.”

“Eli, you’re a good person. You really are. You just need to remember that.”

“I’m finished with you,” he said and snapped his fingers. Emmy blinked and next thing she knew, she was standing in that very dessert next to Victor and Cadence. She was wearing shorts, a tank top, sunglasses, and holding an iced lemonade.

“Emmy?” Cadence said, turning around to face her.

“Cadence?” Emmy asked, confused.

“Where have you been?” Victor asked, his voice scratchy.

“Is that lemonade? Ice cold lemonade?” Cadence interrupted.

“Uh yeah, I guess,” Emmy said, looking down at the drink in her hand. Cadence took it from her and started taking large gulps.

“Hey, save some for me,” Victor said, grabbing the cup from her and taking large gulps too.

“How long have you guys been out here?”

“Hour. Two hours,” Victor said, panting after drinking lemonade.

“Oh my god,” Emmy said, running her hands down her face.

“Where were you? Where’d you come from?” Cadence asked, grabbing this cup back from Victor. “Can I have the rest of this?”

“Yeah, sure,” Victor said.

“I was— I was with Eli,” Emmy said, putting her hand over her eyes and looking at the sky. “It’s hot out here.”

“With no shade,” Cadence said, shaking around the ice to get the last drops of liquid.

“You were with Eli?” Victor said. “While we were out here?”

“It is a contrast from the blizzard, isn’t it?” Emmy said, trying to give a light chuckle.

“Did you help pick this place out?” Victor said, a sharpness in his voice.

“What?” Emmy asked.

“Victor!” Cadence reprimanded.

“What were you talking to Eli about?” Victor said, walking off.

“What do you think? About him going home!” Emmy yelled. She felt the sweat falling on her face. The heat was making everything more tense.

“Of course. How could I be so silly to assume anything else? Did you find him or did he find you?” Victor asked, taking large strides forward.

“I actually found him. There was a well—“

“Next time you see him, tell him to get us out of this чертов canyon!” Victor yelled, turning around and stopping short.

“Victor,” Emmy said, her eyes filling with tears.

“Victor, what’s the matter with you?” Cadence asked.

“I just— I’m sorry,” Victor said, running his hands through his sweaty white hair and gave a loud sigh. “It’s just I woke up and you were gone and we were here and I— I was— never mind. Just don’t leave without saying anything again, please?”

“Y-Yeah. I promise,” Emmy said, her voice cracking.

“Okay. Now let’s get out of here,” he said and started walking again. Cadence and Emmy fell a ways behind but kept Victor in their sight.

“What was that about?” Cadence whispered.

“I’m not sure,” Emmy said, face towards the floor.

“We’ve been out here awhile. The heat is probably just getting to him.”

“Yeah. It is really hot here.”

“Emmy, about what you said last night,” Cadence whispered again, stepping closer to Emmy.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said and started walking a little faster. They all kept walking spaced out from each other. The awkward silence was easy to cover up with the fact that they needed their own personal space in this desert heat.

“A cave!” Cadence shouted and they all looked ahead to a cave in a ledge up above. Victor started running and they followed after him.

“It’s too high up,” Emmy said.

“Lift me up and I’ll pull you guys up,” Victor said and the girls clasped their hands together to make a step for Victor. He stepped on their hands and they strained to lift him high enough. They were both fairly strong, but the heat had exhausted them. Emmy’s muscles were starting to feel brittle from the lack of water and she couldn’t even imagine what Cadence was feeling like. Sweat dripped down their necks and into their eyes. Their breath was ragged and heavy.

Finally they lifted Victor high enough that he could climb into the cave. They heard some panting and then he poked his head out.

“Okay, come on up,” he said, sticking his hands out.

“You go first. You’ve been out here longer,” Emmy said and held out her hands for Cadence.

“Not arguing,” Cadence said and stepped into Emmy’s hands to reach Victor. Victor grabbed her hands and pulled Cadence up. They both rolled into the cave and for a moment Emmy doubted whether Victor would come back out for her. She saw his head pop out with a panicked expression.

“Grab my hand,” he said, sticking his arm down as far as he could. Emmy went to grab it but she was just short of it. She looked around for something to step on but this was a desert and everything was flat. She took a few steps back and then ran towards the wall. Victor tried to move down further. Her jump and his reach still wasn’t enough. Emmy hit the wall and slid down to the floor.

“Emaline!” Victor shouted.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Emmy said, dusting off her shorts. “I’m going again. Be ready.”

“Okay,” he said and reached both of his hands down as far as they go.

Emmy stepped back again and ran towards the ledge. She jumped and caught one of his hands. She grunted and reached for the other one. Victor pulled and pulled until she could grab the ledge. She held on but felt the dirt slipping under her fingers. Victor leaned over her, grabbed under her arms and pulled her up with a grunt. She fell back into his lap. Victor pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. They both sat there panting until their breathing calmed down.

“Are you okay?” Victor asked.

“Just a little banged up, but mostly fine,” Emmy said, looking down at her scraped knees.

“That’s good. That’s good,” he said and pulled her into a hug again. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologising. It’s fine.”

“No it’s not. No one should yell at you like that. It was the heat and the situation and I am just afraid he’s going to get to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Eli. He’s clearly changed. He has some sort of agenda and he loves you. A lot. So it would make sense if he’d want you on his side. That’s all.”

“I promise I will never get on whatever side you think Eli is on. I’m trying to bring him on our side. I won’t let him get to me.”

“You love him too. It’s not like it's hard to convince someone when you’re both in love.”

“I promise, Vic. I promise,” Emmy said, grabbing his hands.

“I hate to interrupt, but I think we should wait here till dark. Then we move,” Cadence said.

“I agree,” Emmy said and slid back to lean against a wall.

“Is it just me or does it feel like we’ve been in this world for much longer than three days?” Cadence spoke up after they took a minute to cool down.

“It feels like it's been weeks,” Victor said, leaning his head back.

“Well hopefully we don’t have to go through blizzards or deserts or be chased by monsters once we get back,” Emmy chipped in.

“You never know. Addersfield can be a strange place if you look in the right places,” Victor joked.

Emmy lightly chuckled. Her smile diminished as she continued to stare at the sunset in the open desert.

“We’ll get there eventually,” Victor said, putting his hand on her’s.

Emmy didn’t realise she could get any warmer, but she did. She looked over at Cadence who had her head back and her mouth slightly open as she breathed evenly. She could fall asleep anywhere.

“Do you think we’ll make it through this trip?” Emmy whispered, leaning her head on Victor’s shoulder.

“I do hope so for your sake,” he whispered back.

“What if we don’t? And we have to keep coming back here?”

“There’s nothing wrong with trying again. If we have to keep coming back, we’ll keep coming back again and again. We won’t give up, I promise.”

“Thank you.”

“Your shoulders are turning red,” he said and Emmy sat up. She looked over and touched them.

“Sunburn. Eli gave me a tank top that keeps you cool but doesn't protect you from the sun.”

“That’s why we're waiting till nighttime.”

“This is probably about that time we went to Gracie’s pool party and he didn’t put sunblock on. Then the next day he was so burnt he could barely move his arms. I came over to take care of him, but we fought because he wanted to go to work and I wouldn’t let him. Seems like all these places are based on times we fought about something.”

“The maze?” Victor asked, pulling out his notebook.

“Harvest Festival.”

“The blizzard?”

“Getting stuck in a snowstorm.”

“The market?”

I looked over at him, biting my lip.

“Me,” he said, writing it down.

“And desert: the sunburn,” Emmy finished.

“What else did you guys fight about?”

“I’m not sure specifically. We fought about a lot of little things. He was very stubborn.”

“That he was,” Victor said and Emmy hit his shoulder. They laughed.

“I think I’ve come to terms with leaving,” Emmy said, playing with her engagement ring.

“What?” Victor asked, shocked.

“Only if we have to. I realised I would rather give up for now and try again rather than losing you two.”

“Well thank you for sparing my life,” he chuckled.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled.

“Looks like the sun has finally gone down,” Victor said.

“I’ll wake Cadence and we can go,” she said and shook Cadence’s shoulder. Victor already started crawling towards the exit. “Cadence time to go.”

“Okay,” she mumbled and followed Emmy to the exit. Victor helped lower each of the girls down and then jumped down himself.

“Alright, off to nowhere,” Victor said and walked ahead of the girls. He was right. There really was nothing. The canyon wall was the only thing in sight so they kept following it forward. Who knew if they were even going in the right direction. Hours passed and they still walked. The only light that kept them from complete darkness was the moon and the stars. Emmy was feeling especially tired since she didn’t sleep the night before. Cadence was still going strong since her nap and Victor had what seemed like an endless amount of energy, so they took the lead on the walk while Emmy watched them talk.

Emmy’s eyes started to droop and her distance from the others caught Victor’s attention. He said something to Cadence and walked back to meet Emmy.

“Hey, champ. How ya holding up?” he asked.

“Not so much. I’m super tired.”

“I know it's a lot of walking,” he said.

“It’s not just that. I haven’t slept since before the snowstorm,” she admitted.

“What? Emmy, you need to sleep.”

“I know, but I’m scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“This happening again and again. It seemed like every time I fell asleep, I would wake up in some strange place with a monster chasing me or something.”

“Oh Emmy. You know that’s going to happen whether you sleep or not. You need your rest,” he said.

“I know. And I know how important bringing Eli home is, but I just thought it would be over with one conversation. I wasn’t expecting this.”

“What if you told me what you wanted to say to Eli? Get it out of your system. I mean goodness knows he is apparently always listening, probably even out in this desert wasteland.”

“I don’t know if I can even say it out loud,” she said.

“Okay. How about this?” he said and pulled out his little notebook.

“You’re gonna let me write in your book?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Sure. Why not?”

“Well, it's like sacred or something, right? You never let anyone touch it,” she said, grabbing the book from him. She felt guilty.

He laughed and said, “It’s not sacred, but don’t go flipping through all the pages. Just write down what you need to.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Hey, Cadence,” he yelled ahead. “We’re gonna stop for a second.”

“We don’t have to--”

“Just write. It’s important,” he said and walked over to Cadence. They both sat down a good distance away from Emmy and Victor filled her in on what was going on. Emmy sat down and immediately began to write. Victor watched her for a while and then Cadence hit him.

“What was that for?” he asked, rubbing his arm.

“What do you think you are doing?” she asked.

“Helping Emmy.”

“Oh you’re helping her alright. Helping her fall right into Eli’s trap.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s obvious Eli just wants Emmy to fall for you so she’ll leave him alone.”

“Well, would that be so bad?”

“Victor,” Cadence reprimanded and hit him again.

“What?”

“Emmy is with Eli and she wants to bring him home and they are going to get married.  _ Married _ . You can’t get in the middle of that.”

“But if Eli is trying to get rid of Emmy, how is that fair to her? Maybe we should be helping her by realising she needs to let him go.”

“Oh Victor. We’re gonna convince Eli to come back with us and he’s going to stay with Emmy and things will go back to normal. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up. Emmy chose Eli.”

“Yeah, I know you’re right. Focus on Eli. That’s the goal.”

“Good boy,” she said and patted his head.

“I’m done,” Emmy said, getting up. She handed the book back to Victor and he could see the tear marks running down her face.

“Thank you,” she smiled at him. He knew her smile could melt his heart, but he had to ignore that feeling.

“Let’s keep walking,” he said and turned off towards the direction they were headed.

The sun started to rise again and all of their energy was drained. They moved even slower than before.

“I don’t know if I can go on,” Cadence complained.

“We gotta. We can’t just be stuck here forever,” Emmy said and the sun started to heat her body temperature again.

“There’s another cave up ahead and its ground-level. Let’s rest there for a minute,” Victor said. As they walked closer, they realised the cave didn’t have an end. It was just pitch black for miles. They walked in and kept walking.

“Oh, that’s it,” Emmy said, having the light come back to her and seeing the hotel hallway.

“Thank goodness,” Cadence said, pushing past them and going right to their room.

Emmy looked at Victor. There was something different about him. He seemed distant all of a sudden. She also noticed his mouth was moving and she didn’t hear him.

“Emmy, you okay?” his voice came through.

“Yeah, I need to sleep,” she said and walked towards the room.

“Yeah,” he said quietly and followed after.

Emmy went straight to her bed and Cadence went to take a shower. Victor sat on the edge of his bed and stared at the wall. He had to get his priorities in check. Emmy chose Eli. Emmy chose Eli.

* * *

“So, yeah, this is the breakroom and here are the lockers,” Cadence said, showing Emmy around.

“Very--” she said, not knowing how to describe what she saw.

“Bleak? Yeah, it’s okay. It seems better once you live in it awhile. The people make the job fun. Speaking of, this is Victor and Chrissy.”

“Nice to meet you,” Emmy said quietly, looking down at the table with the girl with large pink star earrings and the boy with white hair. The girl had headphones in and just waved, but the boy stood up.

“Just wait till after we close. That’s where the real fun begins,” he said with a huge smile.

“I think we’ll keep the fun to a minimum till she gets acclimated, Victor,” Cadence reprimanded. “Shall we move on to the freezers?”

“Yes please,” Emmy said, turning to look at Victor one last time before she left the room. He gave her a really soft smirk and she jumped a little. She had seen these people around school a couple of times, but they were a grade or two older so she paid no attention to them.

After the tour, Cadence set Emmy up at the host table.

“Now, normally Victor likes to do this, but it's the easiest job so it’s all yours tonight,” she told her.

“Sounds good. Thank you.”

“Holler if you need anything,” she said, waving as she walked back to the kitchen. Emmy stood there for a while, taking customers and writing the numbers down in the book. During the slow times, she would watch everyone else buzz around the restaurant. She was nervous about waitressing. Everyone else looked so good at it. She could imagine herself clumsily trying to do just the basics and even failing at that.

“How’s greeting going?” she heard a voice from behind her.

“Huh?” she said, snapping out of her daydream.

“Greeting. You know customers respond better to a smile,” he said, putting his fingers to his cheeks and pushing the corners of his mouth up. _ He’s a clown _ , Emmy thought about Victor.

“Ha ha. Thank you for that information,” Emmy said, deadpan.

She looked back over at Cadence talking to a family and cracking jokes. That feeling of worthlessness came back and felt like a knot in her stomach.

“You wanna see something cool?” Victor asked. Emmy looked out the window to the front of the diner. There was no one in sight. “I can juggle, ya know?”

“Juggle? Seriously?”

“Yeah, sure. Why not?”

“Okay?”

Victor grabbed three oranges from the fruit basket in the kitchen and came back. He started to throw them up in the air and got it to twirl for half a second and then dropped two of them on his feet.

“Ow! Ah! Ah, okay. Ta-da!” he said, holding up the last orange with the biggest smile on his face.

Emmy started to laugh. Out loud. In the middle of the restaurant. She could feel people watching her. Victor’s smile grew. She coughed to try and hide it and then covered her smile with her hand.

“Wasn’t that great?” he asked.

“It was something,” Emmy mumbled.

“Did it make you feel better?” he asked, picking up the other oranges.

“What?” Emmy asked, dropping her hand and her smile.

“Victor, leave her alone and get back to work. You want me to isolate you again? I can start training Emmy with waitressing,” Cadence said.

Emmy’s face dropped and she felt her blood rush to the floor. Victor looked over at her.

“No, no. Emmy’s doing such a great job greeting. I’ll leave her alone,” Victor said, putting the oranges back.

She wanted to thank him, but didn’t know if it was needed or if he was being sarcastic about her aptitude for greeting. After her two hours, she was let on break and Cadence had Chrissy take over for her. She sat in the breakroom, staring at her phone. She wanted to cry. This was her first job and she was so unsure of herself. Maybe she should have just worked at the grocery store or the coffee shop. Her eyes filled with tears but she heard the door open and she blinked them away.

“Hey, how’s it going?” she heard Victor’s voice. He didn’t sit down right away, but went to the vending machine first.

“It’s going good,” Emmy said, trying to make her voice sound steady. She started scrolling through her social media even though it was nothing but old posts.

“You want some chips?” he said, sitting across from her as he opened some potato chips.

“Oh, no thanks,” she said, not looking up at him.

“You were doing a really good job out there. I’m afraid you might steal my place taking priority of the greeting table,” he said with a light laugh.

“Thanks,” she said quietly.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked again, crunching on some chips.

“It’s just-- this is my first job. I think I’m just nervous. First day and all.”

“Hey, you’ll do fine. Couple weeks and you’ll get the hang of everything.”

“You guys make it look easy,” she said, finally looking up at him.

“Oh, us? Nah, we’re all slackers. Besides, I’m the worst waiter there is. That’s why they put me as greeter most of the time. I goof off too much.”

“That’s not true.”

“So, waitressing is what’s stressing you out?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Alright, tell ya what. After your break, jump right in. If you need anything, just tell me and if it gets overwhelming, I’ll switch with you. Just give it a go. You think you can do that?”

“I don’t know,” she said.

“I know you can do it. Hell, you’ll probably end up being out best waitress here, but you gotta try first.”

“Okay, I’ll try.”

“Good. Now eat some chips. You look like you’re gonna pass out,” he said and held the bag out to her. She took a couple and ate them.

“Emmy, are you ready to try waitressing?” Cadence asked, popping her head into the room.

She looked at Victor one last time and he gave her a thumbs up.

“Yeah, I am,” she said and got up.

“Great, come on.”


	12. Episode 12 - One Swaying Being

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Love is not condescension, never  
> that, nor books, nor any marking  
> on paper, nor what people say of  
> each other. Love is a tree with  
> branches reaching into eternity  
> and roots set deep in eternity  
> and no trunk! Have you seen it?  
> The mind cannot. Your desiring  
> cannot. The longing you feel for  
> this loves comes from inside you.  
> When you become the Friend, your  
> longing will be as the man in  
> the ocean who holds to a piece of  
> wood. Eventually, wood, man, and  
> oceans become one swaying being,"

Victor woke up first. They were still in their hotel room. He looked over to the bed with the girls. They were both dead asleep. Victor changed into some fresh clothes and decided to venture downstairs. He saw the lady at the front desk that creeped out Emmy the other night.

“Good morning,” he said, leaning over the counter with a big smile.

“Morning, can I help you?” she asked.

“Well, clearly you aren’t allowed to help with what I really need but could you at least tell me a good place to get some pancakes around here?”

“Um, sure? The closest place is the pub. It’s supposed to be a bar but it's open for breakfast too.”

“Thanks, doll,” he said, smiled at her, and walked out the front doors. He went to the pub and ordered everyone breakfast to go. As he was waiting, he looked around the restaurant. Despite the many people from Addersfield that disappeared, he didn’t recognise anyone. Were these people from other towns that disappeared or people that Eli created? He looked over to the table and had to take a double take. Eli was sitting right there. He looked bigger than before. Victor decided to go out on a limb and talk to him. I know Emmy thought she alone could reason with him, but it never hurts to have help.

“So, what’s your deal?” Victor asked, sliding into the booth.

“Victor,” Eli said with a toothy smile.

“Why are you doing this to Emaline?” he said and instantly regretted it.

“Emaline. Oh, Emaline is it? Victor, what makes you think this is for her?”

“What are you talking about?”

“ _ Emmy _ has two options. She eventually will get tired of dragging you two along down here and putting your lives in jeopardy and will leave you behind to join me forever.”

“And the other option?”

“She gets distracted and leaves me alone to live out my life in my world.”

“Distracted?” Victor asked.

“You said it yourself didn’t you?”

“So you really did see me as a distraction.”

“Of course I did. You think I went through our entire relationship and didn’t notice? Emmy was right. I have changed down here. For the better. And I still would love to have her by my side, but I’m done with her games. She has to learn to love me for who I am or make her choice with someone else. You know as well as anyone, she can’t have both. Besides, the choice will be simple. She’ll choose the same thing she always has. People like her don’t change. She likes the comfort of a man who can give her everything she desires.”

“And you think that is you? You think she desires getting put in snowstorms and deserts and constantly being reminded of all the negative moments from her relationship?”

“I don’t mean to hurt Emmy in any way, but this is for the best. I’m only bringing out what you and I both need to see. The real Emmy. Now, I have to go. See you tomorrow,” he said, grinning before he took off. Victor had no need to follow him. He sat in that booth as his anger rose.

His name was called and he grabbed his food. The walk back to the hotel was short. His steps were long and loud. When he came inside, he quietly set the food down. Cadence was awake but Emmy was still asleep.

“Hey, where’d you go?” she whispered.

“Breakfast. Can we talk outside?” he whispered back and slipped back into the hallway.

“What’s going on?” she asked, shutting the door behind her.

“I talked to Eli.”

“What?”

“He told me what was really going on,” he said.

“Right, because he would tell you but not Emmy.”

“He did. Look, he wants Emmy to choose. He thinks she is either going to leave us behind one of these trips because she is afraid of putting us in danger or let go of him and go with… well, me.”

“What? No. He really told you that?”

“Yeah. That’s exactly what he said.”

“Oh man,” she said, running her hands over her face.

“So, clearly we have to make sure Emmy chooses the right path.”

“And the right path is you?”

“Well, it's better than staying down here,” he said and his cheeks went hot.

“Victor, she isn’t going to let him go.”

“How do you know that? She’s already been nicer to me than she’s ever been before. Maybe in the back of her mind she knows she lost Eli already and is moving past it slowly.”

“Victor, you don’t know that. I know Eli’s strange right now and this place has changed him, but they were in love not even a week ago.”

“For Emmy. For Eli, it’s been months. Do you really think we can let her stay here with him?”

“Victor, this is too much. Don’t try to do anything different, okay? Emmy has got to make her own choices. She can’t be tricked into falling in love with you if we’re not even in the real world. Don’t tell her about this. Ever. Got that?”

“Alright, fine. You know I’m only looking out for Emmy.”

“I know you are,” she said, putting her hand on his arm and going back inside. Victor started pulling out all the food just as Emmy started to wake up.

“Good morning,” Cadence said, standing awkwardly at the foot of the bed.

“Morning,” Victor said, slightly too loud.

“Hey guys, what’s going on?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Breakfast!” Victor announced, handing her a tray of pancakes.

“Okay,” she said suspiciously. “Thanks.”

“Well, let’s try to enjoy the day.”

“We better get ready in case we get swept off again,” Emmy said, setting the pancakes to the side and moving to get out of bed.

“No, no. Just stay in bed. I’m sure that nothing is going to happen this morning,” Victor said, gently pushing her back into bed.

“Okay. Why do you say that?” Emmy said, eyeing the two of them.

Cadence hit Victor’s shoulder.

“Nothing. No reason. I just have a good feeling,” he said.

“Okay, fine,” she said, taking a bite of pancake. “Thanks for the food.”

“You’re welcome!” Victor said loudly.

“I have to change. No funny business,” Cadence said with her gaze on Victor. He threw up his hands.

“Why are you guys acting so weird?” Emmy asked as soon as the bathroom door shut.

“No reason. Really,” he said, starting to eat his breakfast.

“Okay,” she said with a sigh. They sat in silence until Candece came back out.

“Hey, I’m gonna go do some laundry. You guys need anything?”

“Yeah. Let me change and you can wash my pyjamas,” Emmy said and went to the bathroom.

“You think you can hold yourself together until I return or do I have to make you come with me?” she asked Victor.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. Do your laundry.”

Emmy came out and threw her pyjamas in the bag Cadence was holding.

“Okay, you two behave,” Cadence said and left the room.

“What’s up with you two?” Emmy asked, sitting next to Victor.

“Nothing. She’s just being silly,” Victor asked, and Emmy nodded her head. They sat in silence for a good minute before Emmy had to speak up.

“A quiet moment. This is weird.”

“Yeah. Super weird.”

“I have to do something,” Emmy said, got up, and went to grab her scarf and embroidery set. She got it all situated in no time and started threading her needle. Victor grabbed a magazine and sat with her on the floor.

“You don’t mind if I watch right?” he asked.

“Of course not. Why don’t you read me the magazine?”

“Okay,” he said, flipping to an interesting article and started reading. It went on like this for a good while, but Victor couldn’t help himself.

“So, is this what you and Eli did on your days off?” he asked.

“Um, sometimes, I guess. He wouldn’t read to me, but we watched TV together while I worked on stuff,” she said.

“Oh, okay.”

“Why do you ask?” she said, looking up at him.

“No reason. Just curious. You were telling me yesterday about a bunch of times you fought. I just wanted to hear about the good times too.”

“Oh, yeah. There were a lot of good times too,” she said, going back to her work.

“Like what?”

“Um, well, we would cook together a lot. That was fun.”

“You don’t have any crazy stories? Like going out of town, getting caught in the rain, or, I don’t know, just something interesting?”

“You don’t think Eli was interesting,” Emmy said, her eyebrows scrunching together.

“I mean, I have my own opinions, but you told me to keep them to myself. I’m just trying to make conversation.”

“Well, for your information, Eli was plenty interesting. We had fun together in our own ways. I’d go to the city with him all the time.”

“Didn’t he go there for work?”

“Victor, I don’t need your approval, okay?”

“Okay,” he said and they got quiet again. He continued to read the magazine article. “Remember that time we had to carry Cadence back to my truck because we went to that party and she drank way too much?”

“That’s what happens when you crash a party that your recent ex boyfriend is throwing and you have the emotions of Cadence,” Emmy said, her smile growing.

“How about the time it was like thirty degrees and we decided it would be a good idea to go on Cadence’s trampoline with the sprinklers on?”

“And we had the amazing hot cocoa after,” Emmy laughed.

“Or the time we found that horse behind the diner.”

“Oh my. That was crazy,” Emmy said, throwing her head back in laughter.

“We had fun,” Victor said with a sigh.

“Yes, the wild times of being young,” Emmy said.

“That doesn’t have to end.”

“Vic, after this trip, I don’t think I want anymore fun in my life.”

“Hey, can I ask you something?” he said, quieter now.

“I won’t stop you.”

“Can you promise me that you understand that we are here with you and that in no way are you putting us in danger?”

“What?”

“I just don't want you to leave us behind one day. We’re your friends. We willingly came with you because we’re a team. Promise me that if we have to keep coming to this world, you won’t ever come without us?”

“Okay, I promise. Where is all this coming from?”

“Nothing. I was just up thinking this morning. No big deal, really,” he said, putting his hand on her arm and then standing up. “You think Cadence is almost done with the laundry?”

“Victor it’s been like twenty minutes.”

“You’re right. You’re right.”

“Hey, look,” Emmy said, setting down her scarf, “remember back before I started dating Eli when we used to hang out?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Victor said, leaning against the dresser.

“I know I got a little carried away with my relationship and Eli wasn’t the biggest fan of yours, but I mean we have time now. We could go back to that. We had fun.”

“We did.”

“And I know it may not have seemed like it at the time, but I do miss that. I miss us.”

“Emmy, you really wanna start this again?”

“Vic, that was one time. I was having a bad day and I said I was sorry. It won’t be like that, promise.”

“That’s not-- Okay, if you say so. I’m gonna get dressed. I’ll be back,” he said and went to the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face and looked in the mirror. He needed to stop this. He couldn’t get hurt again. He wanted to listen to Cadence’s advice, but he couldn’t help himself. He knew that he was here for Emmy and this was the most important thing right now, but somewhere in the back of his mind wanted to go home. He wanted his old life back. Emmy was getting married. The decision was final and now it was up in the air again. He changed his clothes and went back out.

“Hey, you mind teaching me how you do that?” he asked, sitting next to her.

“You wanna learn to embroider?” Emmy asked.

“I mean, you make it look so much fun,” he said with a smile.

She laughed.

“Alright, I’ll teach you,” she smiled.

* * *

Cadence dropped the clean laundry bag to the floor and went to open the door. She hesitated for a second, leaned in, and listened inside before opening the door. You can never be too careful. She heard loud laughter coming from Emmy and some indistinct chatter. She knocked and then opened the door. When it opened, she saw Emmy sitting very close to Victor as he held her scarf and a needle and thread. Emmy was coming down from a fit of laughter and Victor’s face looked like a ripe tomato.

“Hey guys,” Cadence said, sliding the bag in front of the dresser.

“Hey Cadence,” Emmy said, clearing her throat.

“Whatcha doing?”

“I’m attempting to teach Vic to embroider. Who knew someone who could make incredible and perfect dumplings couldn’t do a simple satin stitch?” Emmy said, starting to laugh again.

“Hey, I think I’m doing pretty well for a beginner,” Victor defended himself.

“Sure you are,” Emmy said, ruffling his hair.

“Okay, well, how about some lunch?” Cadence asked.

“Sounds great! I’m starved,” Emmy said, grabbing the scarf from Victor and finishing his stitch quickly.

“I’m gonna run to the bathroom and then we can leave,” Cadence said and closed the door behind her.

“Sorry if I messed up the scarf,” Victor said as Emmy put away the thread and ring.

“What are you talking about? It makes it so much better!” she said, wrapping it around her neck.

“You’re wearing it out?” he asked.

“I am never letting it leave my sight,” she said, leaning over to kiss his temple.

Victor went to say something, but nothing came out. Emmy giggled and stood up. Victor shook his head and stood up.

“Okay, let’s go!” Cadence said, coming out and walking with them down to the pub.

They sat at a booth and ordered their food.

“So, what’s our plan from here?” Cadence asked, leaning back in her booth.

“Plan?” Emmy asked, leaning onto the table.

“Yeah, I mean we tried talking to Eli. We’ve thankfully gotten out of all of his ‘challenges,’ so now what are we going to try?”

“I was just going to talk to him again. I need to find out what he wants before I can figure out what to do. He said before he was looking for me to teach him something, but I’m not sure what that is. Once I do, I’m sure I can change his mind,” Emmy explained.

“Victor? Thoughts?” Cadence asked. Victor wasn’t moving a muscle, his gaze was distant and cold.

“Victor,” Emmy said, nudging his shoulder.

“Oh, yeah. Um, that sounds good,” he said.

“Okay, but how are we supposed to--” Cadence started to say and then their food came.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Emmy said, her voice trailing off once she realized that she felt like she was rocking in a boat. She blinked and then looked around, realizing she was on a boat.

“You guys seeing this?” she asked, looking at her friends.

“Yeah, is this--?” Cadence said.

“Okay, okay,” Victor was saying, quickly grabbing on to the sides of the small rowboat they were all in in the middle of the ocean.

“Here we go again,” Cadence said.

“Okay, I don’t like boats,” Victor said, throwing his head back and closing his eyes.

“Hey, you okay?” Emmy said, grabbing his arm.

“I don’t like boats,” he said, his face going white.

“Look, we still have our food at least,” Cadence said, opening the small ice chest between them.

“Okay, there is no oars or any sight of land. We usually make it out of these things in due time. We just have to wait it out,” Emmy said.

“What? We can’t wait. We have to get back to land. Use the spoons for oars or something,” Victor said, starting to panic.

“We don’t have spoons. No one ordered soup,” Cadence said, digging through the box.

“Then use knives. I don’t know. Just do something!”

“Victor, calm down. It’s okay. We’re fine,” Emmy said, rubbing his back.

“I’m gonna eat before something worse happens,” Cadence said.

“Try to save some in case we are stuck here awhile,” Emmy told her.

“Fine, but I’m eating Victor’s food if he throws up,” she said, grabbing a biscuit.

“Fine,” Emmy said, rolling her eyes.

“Oh God,” Victor said, leaning out of the boat and throwing up.

“Ew,” Cadence whined.

“Okay, guys. We gotta get a hold of ourselves. We might be here awhile,” Emmy said, handing Victor a piece of toast.


	13. Episode 13 - Stay Safe For Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Stay safe for me  
> Stay sound for me  
> Stay warm for me  
> Stay rested for me
> 
> I couldn’t stand to see your tears  
> I could hide you away from fear  
> I couldn’t watch you saunter alone  
> I could walk you home"

It had been hours. Not just minutes that felt like hours. They had gotten here around lunchtime and the sun was setting now. Victor was settling into the situation, but he refused to move from an upright position. Cadence and Emmy had both resorted to sitting on the bottom of the boat so they could lean their head on the benches. Emmy slowly stroked Victor’s leg to make sure he stayed with them. She was getting tired.

“Pass me another fry,” Emmy said and Cadence reached to grab a couple for her.

“Food?” she offered to Victor but he kept his eyes straight ahead and shook his head no.

“Suit yourself,” Cadence said. “I’m gonna take a nap. Maybe we can do shifts through the night in case anything happens.”

“Go ahead. This is the most boring challenge yet,” Emmy said with a sigh.

Cadence leaned to the side and closed her eyes. Emmy decided to get up and sit on the bench again.

“We’ll get through this, Vic,” Emmy said, putting her arm around his back.

“Em?” he whispered, not moving his head.

“Yeah?”

“I know this is really important, but I need to tell you something,” he said, his voice shaking.

“Go ahead,” she said and could see Cadence peek her eyes open for a second.

“I wanna go home,” he said, finally looking at her.

“Okay,” Emmy said and took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry. No, this is more important,” he said, turning his head back.

“I didn’t know you were this afraid,” Emmy said, looking up at him. His eyes had tears sitting on his lower lash line.

“I didn’t either. I’ve never been on a boat,” he said.

“Okay. Well, why don’t you try to sit down and not look at the ocean. Maybe you can get your mind off of it.”

“I’ll try,” he said, nodding his head. They both moved down and squished the three of them in the bottom of the small boat.

Cadence stirred a little and Emmy apologised.

“You need to eat something. Here, have your burger,” Emmy said, digging for his burger and handing it to him. “It’s cold, but it's still food.”

“Thank you,” he said, taking a bite.

He finished the burger without another word and they sat in silence. Victor looked a little more relaxed, but not by much. Eventually, Victor nodded off and Emmy could stop worrying. She sat with her head back and her eyes to the stars.

“Why are you doing this, Eli? What do you want from me?” she whispered over the snores of Cadence and Victor. The night was long and quiet. The gentle rocking of the boat was making Emmy want to sleep, but she knew it was more important that Cadence and Victor sleep.

She sat and watched her friends to pass the time. Cadence’s hair was knotted and the blue color stood out even brighter against the wood of the boat and the night sky. Victor had his head tilted back and his mouth was sitting slightly ajar. His chest moved up and down in an even pattern and every once in a while his hands would twitch. They both looked exhausted, like they had gone on an unexpected camping trip. Emmy thought about what Victor had said and it made her think about home. She missed her bed and the normality of a regular day. Even a day that they thought they had off here turned into being stranded in the middle of the ocean.

* * *

“Hello!” Emmy answered her front door to Victor standing with two pizza boxes and a bag hopefully full of hot chinese food.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked with a big crooked smile.

“Episode One is already warmed up in the DVD player,” Emmy said and opened the door wider so he could step in. Both were decked out in their nerdiest pyjamas and were ready to eat copious amounts of food.

“I got the Emmy-Victor special,” he announced, setting the food on the coffee table.

“Two everything pizzas, and one of everything from King Fu’s?” Emmy asked even though she knew the answer.

“You know it,” he said, going to her cupboards to get the paper plates and napkins.

“I made S’mores Brownies with Bailey’s and your favorite everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cookie dough,” she said, pulling them both out of the fridge.

“You are a goddess,” she said, kneeling before her. Emmy laughed.

“I haven’t even brought out the best part,” she said, setting the containers on the coffee table and going back to the kitchen for more.

“Whiskey,” they both said at the same time and laughed. She grabbed her favorite bottle and the liter of Coke from the fridge and took it to the couch. Victor grabbed cups and joined her.

“Start it. Start it,” Victor chanted, jumping up and down on the couch.

“Alright, antsy-pants,” she said, reaching for the remote and starting the movie. They had done this at least ten times since Emmy started working at the diner about a year ago. It was a tradition whenever they both had a couple days off to sit with every food they could think of and watch every Star Wars film non-stop. By now, it was a routine they were very comfortable with.

They both started loading up their first plate and mixing their first drink as the beginning theme started playing. They took turns reading along in silly voices and taking bites of the best pizza in town.

Four movies and eight hours later, they were full of food and alcohol. They both were leaned against the back of the couch covered in blankets and nearly about to pass out.

“You sleepy?” Victor asked, poking Emmy’s nose, after he noticed her eyes drooping.

“No,” she protested, trying to sit up more.

“Coffee time,” he whispered.

“Alright,” she said, going to sit up.

“No, I’ll get it,” he said, sitting up.

“No, you don’t have to,” she mumbled.

“Sit, I’ll get it,” he said, pushing her back down and going to the kitchen. Emmy leaned back, watching him move around her kitchen. She was kind of glad she didn’t have to make it. Victor made pretty good coffee. She turned back to the movie and her eyes dropped close again. The next time they opened, she was leaning on Victor as he sipped from a mug. She blinked her eyes open and saw where they were at in the movie. It was nearly over. She had been out for a while.

“Good morning,” she said, looking down at her. “Or rather good 3 am.”

“Hi,” she said with a weak smile. “You drank the coffee.”

“And I found the Bailey’s,” he said with a toothy smile.

“You’re crazy,” she said, sitting up. She went to the kitchen and poured herself a cup and put it in the microwave.

“I dipped the brownies in it and, Emaline, I think we’ve found the ultimate combination,” Victor said to her over the blaster noises.

“I’ll have to try that,” she said, pointing her spoon at him. The microwave went off and she walked it back to the couch. She sat down and Victor pulled the blanket over her again. “Thanks.”

“Brownie?” he offered, holding out the tray.

“Brownie,” she accepted, grabbing it. “I need the sugar.”

Emmy dipped it in her hot coffee and took a bite.

“The ultimate late night snack,” she said with wide eyes and a full mouth.

“I told you,” he said, laughing.

“How are you not tired?” she asked, taking another sip.

“I passed out for a little bit but then the coffee maker beeped and the smell woke me up again.”

“That’s good,” she said. “You need more sleep.”

“I’ll sleep when the sun comes up, remember?”

“Right. I’m always the weakling that falls asleep too early,” she said with a chuckle.

“I wish we could do this every day,” he said quietly.

“Me too,” Emmy said, finishing off the last of her brownie.

* * *

Victor started to stir. Emmy tried to keep still so she didn’t wake him, but it was too late.

“Hey,” he said, his voice groggy.

“Hey,” she whispered back.

“You haven’t slept? You need to sleep,” he said, his eyes still half closed.

“I’ll sleep when the sun comes up. You rest,” she said with half a smile.

“M’kay,” he mumbled and closed his eyes again. The steady breathing came quick.

As much as Emmy hated to admit it, she missed home too. She just wanted everything to go back to normal.

“Eli, why are you keeping us here? Why won’t you just come home with me?” she whispered to the sky. “I love you. Come home. Please.” Emmy sat quietly with tears coming down her cheeks. This challenge wasn’t physically draining, but it definitely was emotionally draining. She wanted to have her fiance home with her but she wanted to protect her friends. They had been through a lot. Emmy wanted to keep going, but she had to admit that she was exhausted too.

Victor moved his hand to scratch his head and then his arm fell onto Emmy’s lap. She stared at it for a minute, wiped away her tears, and then gently placed her hand in his. Even after being on the cold open sea for hours, he still had warm hands. More time went by and the sun started to rise.

A ray of sun hit Cadence’s face and her face scrunched up. She opened her eyes and blocked the sun with her hand.

“Mm, morning already?” she said.

“Yup, and we’re still here,” Emmy said. Cadence laughed and then looked over at her. Her eyes flickered down and Emmy pulled her hand away from Victor’s.

“Nice night?” Cadence asked.

“I’m gonna sleep now,” Emmy said.

“Okay, I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Thanks,” Emmy said, closing her eyes. When she woke again, it was bright outside, probably close to noon. Cadence and Victor were sitting on the bench above, talking.

“I wonder if maybe we’ll get oars after we’ve been here for a full day,” Cadence was saying.

“We’d still have to paddle to land and find land and hope that land is connected to something we can get back to the town on,” Victor said. He still sounded panicked.

“Do we have more food?” Emmy said so they knew she was awake.

“Morning,” Cadence said, turning around. “Yeah, I think there is. Go ahead and grab whatever. We ate already.”

“Thanks,” Emmy said, digging through the food and grabbing a biscuit and half of a BLT.

“Anyone else parched?” Emmy said, pushing herself up onto the bench.

“Yeah, we didn’t get any drinks that came with us. We won’t last that long without water,” Cadence said.

“I wish Eli would just talk to me so I could--”

“So you could have another hang out session with him? Get an iced tea? Some cheese and crackers?” Victor said, his voice loud.

“Victor,” Cadence reprimanded. “He’s tense.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s okay,” Emmy said and ate her food in silence again. They continued to sit in the same place they had been for over twenty-four hours. Everyone was drained and they didn’t seem closer to getting out of here. Emmy started at the horizon line. It was the same in every direction. Blue against blue. Nothing in sight. Nothing except something moving in the water.

She was about to say something, but didn’t want to upset Victor any more.

“Hey, Vic. Maybe sit back on the floor,” Emmy said.

“Yeah, why not,” he said, sliding down and putting his arm over his face. He still looked pretty pale.

“Cadence, let’s talk,” Emmy said, her voice stern.

“Okay,” she said, suspiciously, and moved over to sit next to Emmy. “What’s up?”

Emmy silently pointed to the movement in the water.

“Is that?” Cadence said and they both watched it move closer to the surface and a fin appeared above the water.

“Don’t say a word. He’s already terrified,” Emmy whispered.

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’ll just go away?”

“You know as well as I do, that was put there for a reason. This isn’t a real ocean.”

“He does know I love sharks,” Emmy mumbled.

“Or you might have done something to upset him?” Cadenced said, raising her eyebrows at Emmy.

“Don't start,” Emmy said.

“You girls okay?” Victor asked.

“Oh, yeah. Peachy-keen!” Emmy said nervously.

Victor turned around to look at them. Suddenly there was a thud on the side of the boat.

“Uh-oh,” Cadence said.

“What was that?” Victor said, perking up.

“Uh, nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Emmy said.

“Emmy, that wasn’t nothing,” he said, pushing himself back up and looking over the side of the boat. “Is that a shark?!”

“Normally, that would be great, but right now I don’t think he’s here to play,” Emmy said.

“We have to do something. What are we going to do?” Victor yelled and there was another thud.

“Don’t panic,” Cadence said.

“Don’t panic? How are you expecting me to do that? We are in the middle of the ocean with nowhere to go and now there are sharks surrounding us,” he yelled again.

“You have to calm down. Maybe they are just here to scare us. Eli would never hurt us,” Emmy suggested.

“Emmy, he has thrown us in snowstorms and deserts and made some sort of monster chase us through a corn maze. The challenges always get worse the longer we are in them. What makes you think now is any different?” Victor said, throwing his arms in the air.

“I don’t know!” Emmy shouted back. There was another couple of thuds, shaking the boat around. Water splashed into the boat and Cadence yelped. Victor pulled his legs up onto the bench.

“Emmy, we need to get out of here!” Cadence said suddenly.

“How?” Emmy yelled.

There was a harder thud and suddenly a gush of water came from the side and started to fill the boat with water.

“What are we going to do now? This is impossible,” Victor shouted.

“This is what you wanted Eli,” Emmy yelled to the sky. “I won’t ever give up.”

“Emmy,” Cadence said, putting her hand on Emmy’s shoulder. Emmy looked at her and then looked at Victor. He looked more scared than she had ever seen him. She took a deep breath and as she saw more water rushing into the boat and the water level getting closer to the top of the boat and the fins of the sharks spinning around them, she pulled her scarf close to her and quickly took off her engagement ring.


	14. Episode 14 - Let Us Eat Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I want to eat so many different kinds of cake with you”

They opened their eyes and sat upright. Emmy, Cadence, and Victor were sitting on the beach late into the evening.

“Did we?” Emmy asked, looking around for Eli. There was no one but the three of them. Victor was shaking and Cadence laid back down in the sand with a huff.

“I guess we didn’t,” Emmy said, pulling her knees to her chest.

“No memories, just like she said,” Victor said, looking over at Emmy.

“No memories. All we know is that we failed,” she said, kicking the sand away from her.

“We can try again,” he said.

“Poor Eli. Still stuck wherever he is. He’s probably so disappointed in me,” Emmy said.

“No, he loves you. He probably is glad you're safe at home and has faith you’ll come back and try again,” Victor said.

“Thanks,” Emmy said.

“We have to go back to the party,” Cadence said.

“Oh, the party. I don’t-- I can’t go back,” Emmy said as Cadence stood up.

“We have to. You can’t just run away from your own party at your own house.”

“I promised myself I wouldn’t come back without Eli.”

“My feet are wet,” Cadence said, lifting her feet to see the sand sticking to her shoes.

“Mine too,” Emmy said.

“Mine are not?” Victor said.

“I guess we can’t just stay here,” Emmy said, walking down the beach. Cadence and Victor quickly followed after her. They got in Cadence’s truck and drove back to Emmy’s house. Emmy took off her shoes and socks, trying to dry them out. They smelled like sea water. Maybe the waves washed up on them? But Victor’s feet weren’t wet. She pulled the mysterious scarf from her neck. They clearly were there for a while. She had started embroidering something in gold at the end of it and about halfway through the design, it went wonky and skipped stitches. She examined it with her hand and wished for her memories back. They made it back to her house and walked barefoot inside.

“Woah, I thought you went to get ice?” Tia asked, finding her as she walked through the front door.

“We decided to walk along the beach instead,” Emmy tried to explain.

“And change your clothes? And take off your makeup? And look like you’ve been sleeping--” Tia stopped to look at Victor who also looked completely disheveled. Then she looked over her other shoulder at Cadence who matched just as well. “I won’t ask. Why don’t you change and we can get you a piece of cake.”

“I actually think I’m gonna have to shut this down. I’m sorry. It’s a lovely party and I appreciate all your work, but I’m really not in a good mood for a party. I miss Eli,” she said.

“Okay, I understand. It was worth a try. You get changed and maybe a shower, and I’ll send everyone home,” Tia said. Emmy gave her a hug.

“Thank you.”

“Woah you really smell like the ocean. Okay, get changed and we’ll be here when you’re ready,” Tia said and walked off, most likely to find Lily.

“Hey, we’re gonna take off,” Cadence said.

“Thank you guys,” Emmy said, pulling them both in for a tight hug.

“Whatever we did in there, we did for you,” Cadence said. “Call us when you need us.”

“I will. Get some rest,” Emmy said and they both walked back out.

Emmy went to her room and jumped right in the shower. Her body felt worn down. Her feet were cold from the water, her shoulders and arms felt tight from a sunburn, and she felt like she had slept three hours in a week. Whatever happened down there, it really wore them out. A warm shower felt nice. She got out, brushed her hair, covered her arms in aloe, and put on fresh clothes. When she came back out, Tia and Lily were cleaning up her living room.

“Got any cake left?” Emmy asked, making them turn around.

“Absolutely,” Lily smiled, going to grab her a slice from the kitchen.

“We’ll help you clean up,” Tia said, sitting next to her on the couch.

“Thank you. You’re good friends,” Emmy said and Tia wrapped her arm around her. Lily sat next to Emmy and handed her the cake.

“So, how ya holding up?” Tia asked.

“Better now that I showered,” Emmy said, taking a bite of cake. “Mm, this is good.”

“Are you going to explain where you’ve been?” Tia asked.

“Um, no. Not yet,” Emmy said. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry about Eli,” Lily said.

“Me too,” Emmy whispered. “Can we put on a movie?”

“Of course,” Tia said and Lily got up to put something on. It didn’t really matter much to Emmy. She was exhausted and her mind was full of thoughts despite missing so many memories. Emmy finished her cake and then let herself lay down on the couch, dozing off.

When she woke up, there was a blanket over her and Tia and Lily were quietly cleaning up the mess.

“Hey guys, don’t worry about it. We can finish tomorrow. Go home and get some sleep,” Emmy said, getting up.

“Ok, you too,” Tia said, putting down the bag of trash.

“Goodnight, Em,” Lily said. Emmy gave them each a hug and walked them outside. After they left, Emmy didn’t feel tired anymore. She turned off the TV and started cleaning. It felt good to be doing something productive. She kept cleaning and eventually the sun was rising and her house was back together again. She was craving some diner food and good coffee. She changed into some more presentable clothes and drove down to the diner. She saw the early morning crew and said hello before sitting down at a booth alone. Jasmine asked if she wanted her normal booth or somewhere different. Emmy waved off the concern and took her normal booth. She slid in and told Jasmine what she wanted before she even looked at the menu.

Emmy watched the sun continue to rise and thought about all the times she had been here. It felt like a second home at this point. She received her coffee and food and started eating. She could feel eyes on her as she sat alone. By now everyone knew about Eli. It didn’t help. She thought she probably should have stayed home, but she stuck to her gut. Eventually, she got a text from Cadence letting Emmy know she was awake. Emmy called Cadence and told her to have Victor and her meet her at home. Emmy gave Jasmine cash for her meal and left the diner. She drove home and caught Cadence getting out of her truck.

“Emmy, you were out?” Cadence asked.

“I woke up early and went to the diner. Craving those pancakes,” Emmy explained.

They both went inside.

“Victor isn’t up yet.”

“That’s fine. We all need rest,” Emmy said. “Want some cake or nachos or any sort of party food? That’s basically all I have.”

“Nachos sounds great,” Cadence said, sitting on the bar. It was good to see her back to normal. She had her hair clean and up in buns. She had a brightly colored button down and tiny shorts with lots of jewellery and big boots on. She looked more like the Cadence I knew.

“Isn’t it weird missing a chunk of time from your memory?” Emmy asked, putting together a plate of food.

“It really is. I feel like I got drunk for like a week.”

“It does feel like that. I wish we had some sort of clue as to what happened,” Emmy said, warming the meat and cheese.

“I mean we know that we were there long enough to change clothes and get our feet dipped in the ocean.”

“But that doesn't tell us anything except that maybe next time pack a bag,” Emmy said, waving a fork around.

“Well, I think the best thing we can do now is just rest up and wait for next week to come,” Cadence said, taking the plate from Emmy.

“You’re right. Wanna watch some TV?” Emmy asked.

* * *

“I’m gonna go and see Nix. See you tomorrow?” Cadence said as she stood by the front door.

“Work. Right. See you then,” Emmy said and watched as Cadence walked back to her car. Once she shut the door, she checked her phone again. There were a couple messages from Tia and Lily asking if she needed anything, but those messages weren’t the ones she wanted to see right now.

She started dialing Victor’s number.

“Hey,” he answered.

“I need you,” she said.

“Okay.”

Ten minutes later he was at her door.

“Wha--” he went to say as she opened the door, but instead was pulled into a big hug.

“I’m sorry. Thank you. I don’t deserve you. I don’t know what to say,” Emmy said into his shoulder.

“What? What’s happened?” he said as they backed away.

“I just, I’ve been holding back and now that Eli is gone--”

“Woah, Emmy. He’s not gone,” he said, stepping inside and closing the door.

“I know he isn’t forever, but I was sitting here with Cadence and realised that even if I could bring him home next week, that’s still a week he is away. Not even on some business trip where I could call him if I needed to, but gone. Unreachable.”

“Let’s sit,” he said and walked her to the couch. “Emmy, I know it’s hard, but we’ll get there. We’ll bring him back.”

“That’s also what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to thank you for helping me. I know I haven’t been the most grateful or supportive friend these last few years and it was wrong for me to push you away just because Eli was in my life.”

“Emaline, you don’t need to apologise. I understand. You had Eli. You couldn’t spend every second with him and with me.”

“It wasn’t just that. I didn’t spend any seconds with you. Eli didn’t really like it when I talked to you and at the time it seemed right, but now I know that it was unfair. You’re my friend, whether Eli likes it or not, and if he wants to be with me, he’s got to trust me and accept that.”

“Well, thanks. I appreciate it. I did miss my best friend,” Victor said.

“Again, I really don’t deserve you. You’re always so forgiving.”

“Oh, I couldn’t be mad at you for very long.”

“Okay, now that I’ve got that off my chest, you want something to eat or drink? I’ve got cake,” she said with a crooked smile.

“Cake sounds great. As long as it comes with a movie at the very least.”

“Of course. What do you want to watch?” she asked, making a plate for him.

“You got Bill and Ted lying around?”

“Um,” she said, freezing.

“We don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to,” he said, leaning over the arm of the couch.

“No, no. It’s just-- the DVD is in my room.”

“Want me to get it?”

“No!” she protested. “No, I just-- I can’t go in there anymore.”

“What? Why not?”

“It’s a mess,” she said simply, handing him a plate full of cake.

“Come on, it can’t be that bad. It’s your own room.”

She didn’t respond, but instead grabbed his wrist and led him to her bedroom door. She slowly opened the door and they stood in the doorway.

“Told you,” she said as she watched his eyes widen.

Every inch of the room was covered in some sort of white fabric.

“W-What happened?” he asked.

“Well, I stayed up all night cleaning up the party and then I had a little moment and kept working on my wedding dress and then it became overwhelming and I went to the diner and then Cadence came and then it’s still like this,” she said.

“Wow,” he said, stepping into the room.

“There are three wearable dresses now,” she said, picking up sheets of fabric and moving them out of the way so they could get to the bed.

“Three? I need to see them,” Victor said, looking her dead in the eyes.

“What? No,” she said, shaking her head.

“Yes! I’ll help you clean up every inch, but you have to show them off. You must have worked so hard. Plus, a second opinion is always helpful. Especially from someone as fashionable as me.”

“Right. The guy who wears the same three sweaters all the time.”

“They’re great sweaters,” he defended himself and she laughed.

“I’ll show you  _ after _ we clean,” she said.

“Deal,” he said, setting down the cake.

They began folding up the larger pieces and sorting them into a bin and then throwing away scraps and bits of thread and carefully collecting pins and packing away sewing supplies into the hall closet. Finally about an hour later, the room was clean enough to see the floor. The three dresses were hung in her bathroom, ready to be worn. Emmy grabbed the vacuum from the closet and brought it into the room.

“I vacuum. You change,” he said, shooing her out of the room.

Emmy reluctantly moved to the bathroom. She pulled up her hair and then began getting into the first dress. It was a little difficult getting in herself, but she managed. She heard the vacuum stop and came out, almost excited to show off her work.

“Wow,” Victor said, leaning back on the bed as Emmy walked into the room.

She twirled in a mid-length ivory dupioni dress with a tight corset bodice and large ruffles trimming almost all of the bottom half of the skirt.

“It’s great. I’d expect nothing less from you,” he said.

“You hate it,” she said.

“No, I never said that. I think it’s amazing.”

“I know. It’s okay. Wait till you see the next one. It’s even more of a stinker,” she said and he rolled his eyes. She walked back into the bathroom and changed for the second time.

When she came back into the bedroom, his mouth fell open before he could say anything.

“It was my first one. I was having a moment. Pretty in Pink was on the TV,” she explained.

“Puff sleeves.”

“Puff sleeves!”

“I can’t believe you did that,” he said, leaning against the wall and looking at it again.

“With a bell skirt. That’s a lot of puff!” she said and they both started laughing.

“Please promise me you’ll keep this one. You may need it someday. Or just keep it so you can pull it out and remember your humble beginnings,” he said and they laughed again.

“Of course I’m keeping this. It’s my greatest masterpiece,” she joked and went for the last one.

It took her the longest to get into and even she couldn’t finish buttoning the back by herself, but she went out anyway. As she walked to the room, she watched him playing with something on her bookshelf.

“Alright, last one,” she said, pulling the skirt out in front of her. She was actually proud of this one. It was a full lace, off the shoulder, pure white dress.

He turned around and froze.

“Do you not like this one?” she asked, looking down and becoming aware of some of the seams that she had in awkward places or pieces of lace that didn’t line up.

“I-- wow, Eli is a lucky guy,” he said, almost dropping the spool of thread he had in his hand.

“It’s alright then?”

“More than alright. Emmy, you outdid yourself with this one,” he said, coming closer to her.

“Well, I still need help with some of the buttons if you don’t mind,” she said, turning around.

“Uh, yeah, okay,” he said and went over to close the top buttons.

“Thanks,” Emmy said, turning around.

“Wow, you really did a nice job on this. You have so much,” he said, running his fingers along the lace sleeves, “talent.”

“Um, thanks,” Emmy said quietly, looking down at the sleeves. She looked back up at his face. It was soft and loose. His white hair fell in curls over his forehead. He was so close now she could see each of his eyelashes.

He cleared his throat and said, “I need to show you something.”


	15. Episode 15 - Planet of Never-Ending Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hold my hand, please.  
> I don't want to fall  
> from the planet  
> of never-ending dreams"

“Okay, what’s going on?” she said, sitting on the bed next to him after she changed back into normal clothes.

“So, this morning I was cleaning everything up and I found this,” he said, pulling out his notebook.

“Your notebook that you carry everywhere?” she said with a slight laugh.

“Yes, but there was something odd inside. Something I don’t remember writing,” he said, flipping the pages.

“Oh,” she said, her eyebrows raising.

“Yeah,” he said, handing the book over.

She looked down at the pages. One had multiple tally marks and the other was a list of words.

“What does this mean?” she asked.

“I have no clue. Maybe I was tracking how many days we were down there. Maybe places we went?”

“We went to a snowstorm? Why would we do that?”

“I don’t know, but at least we have some clues,” he said.

She took a deep breath and said, “Okay, we can figure it out. We need something to help us out next time.”

“Yup, next time. You know what’ll help us now, though?”

“What’s that?”

“Food.”

“I’ve got leftovers--”

“No, no, no. Real food,” he said, standing up.

“King Fu’s?” she said, her mood immediately picking up.

“It’s like we have the same brain,” he said, laughing. He pulled out his phone and started calling for a delivery. “Lee will be here in 20!”

“My mom would kill me if she knew how much I ate this unauthentic Chinese food.”

“Eh, just blame it on me. She already hates me,” he said, flopping back down on the bed.

“She doesn’t hate you,” Emmy said, leaning over him.

“She just thinks I’m a bad influence,” he pointed out.

“True, but I mean you didn’t leave the best first impression on her.”

“It’s not my fault. I was taught to always bring something to a party.”

“And your leftover pancakes from the diner was probably not the right thing,” she said, laughing.

“I was afraid that I wouldn’t like the food, so I brought my own just in case.”

She rolled over and laughed.

“What? I was nervous, okay?”

“Well, now you know for next time that you do like the food.”

“Yeah, if I ever get invited back. Man, I miss those dumplings,” he said, rubbing his stomach.

“You’ll get invited back. Maybe not by her, but you’re part of my life again so you’ll have to come over sometime. We’ll have a big dinner. Invite everyone.”

“That sounds fantastic,” he said and looked over to smile at her.

“I wanna try your mom’s cooking though. I’ve never had real Russian food,” Emmy said.

“Oh, she doesn’t cook much these days. But I’d be happy to make you some solyanka one of these days.”

“I have no idea what that is, but I have to try it.”

“Maybe I’ll make it for your mom,” he said with a smirk and wide eyes.

“I don’t know about that. She’s very traditional. Doesn’t like to think outside the box, ya know?”

“I’m sure she’ll love it as much as she loves me,” he said with a stupidly big grin.

“You’re impossible,” she laughed, pushing him over.

They heard the doorbell ring and sat up.

“I’ll get it,” Victor said and went to the front door.

Emmy sat on the bed with a pillow held tightly in her lap. She could hear Victor and Lee talking at the front door.

“Victor, hey man,” Lee said after the door opened.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Not much. Nice to see you back here again. Kind of missed coming to bring you guys your Tuesday night special,” Lee said with a laugh.

“Yeah, I missed eating it. Thanks for coming by. We gotta hang out sometime,” Victor said.

“Absolutely. Give me a call. Enjoy your night,” Lee said and the door closed.

Emmy felt a calm sort of comfort. She had to agree with both boys. She missed her little routines with Victor and she definitely missed eating Chinese take-out. With Eli, he was more into pizza and late night talk show reruns before they would go to bed at 10. He always had to be up early so she didn’t mind getting some extra sleep, but she did have to admit that she missed staying up till three in the morning eating bad chinese food, drinking whiskey, and watching movies she’d seen a thousand times. It made her feel young and alive. She enjoyed it for now, but she always knew it would have to end. Eli reminded her that everyone had to grow up sometime.

“Got the goods,” he said, coming into the room, holding the bags in the air.

“Great,” she smiled. They opened up the boxes and started talking.

“Okay, I’m just going to assume that the tallies are how many days we were there,” he said.

“I’m going to say that is a good assumption.”

“So, now we just need to figure out what the list of words mean.”

“I don’t even know where to start,” Emmy said.

They talked about the list for an hour or more, getting sidetracked occasionally, until the food was cleaned out. By then it was getting late and they were both laying, staring at the ceiling.

“I feel like I’m going to explode,” Victor said, putting his hands on his stomach.

“I haven’t eaten like this in so long,” Emmy said.

“Well, considering this list, I feel like we deserve it.”

“So we’ve agreed that some of these are places we went.”

“We agree,” he said, closing his eyes.

“So what do they relate to each other?”

“I think our biggest breakthrough would have to be from connecting the harvest festival, the snowstorm, me, and a sunburn.”

“It is a conundrum,” Emmy said, closing her eyes and hugging her pillow close. It’s not like she slept much in the last week and came back exhausted from what apparently was an eleven day trip she didn’t have any memory of.

“Three of those things are outdoor activities. Two of them could cause pain.”

“Mh-hm,” Emmy mumbled.

“I really think the odd thing out is me. What do I have to do with other things or a marketplace?” Victor rambled on.

“I don’t know,” Emmy said into her pillow.

“Emmy? Are you asleep?” Victor said, rolling over to look at her.

“Mh, no. A lot of food. I’m digesting,” she said, her words slurring together.

“Uh huh, sure,” he said, getting off the bed. He grabbed a blanket from the basket by her bed and went to lay it over Emmy.

“I’m going to go home,” Victor whispered.

“No, no. We need to figure out this- um, list,” she said, grabbing his arm.

“Emmy, I can’t--”

“Please,” she said, moving back and pulling him down. He gave a long sigh and laid down on the bed. She wrapped her arms around his and was out like a light. He laid there staring at the ceiling in silence.

* * *

Victor woke up last, sitting up on the bed, and shaking out his hair. He realised where he was, groaned, and walked out to the living room.

“Hey, you’re up. I made pancakes.”

“That goes great with kung pow chicken,” Victor said, leaning on the counter.

“I’d be willing to try just as long as you try it with me,” Emmy said, waving the spatula in his face.

Just then, there was a quick knock at the door and it opened slowly.

“Em, it’s me,” Cadence yelled, but then stopped when she saw Emmy and Victor in the kitchen. Emmy backed away and put the spatula down. Victor stood up and adjusted his shirt.

“Oh, hey Cadence. I wasn’t expecting you,” Emmy said, checking the pancakes.

“I came to check on you, but I guess you’re fine,” she said, setting her bag down and closing the door.

“You want some pancakes?” Emmy asked.

Cadence smacked Victor’s arm while Emmy was turned to the stove.

He gave a silent squeal and Cadence glared at him.

“We also have Chinese food in the fridge,” Emmy said.

Cadence smacked Victor again.

“You guys are quiet,” Emmy said, turning around.

“Just enjoying the smell of those pancakes,” Cadence said with a guilty smile.

“Okay. Vic, why don’t you show her the list? Maybe she can help us,” Emmy said, and went back to cooking.

“Uh, yeah. I’ll get it,” Victor said and started walking to her bedroom.

“I’m coming,” Cadence said and followed after him. Once they got inside the room, she shut the door with a little more force than she’d like.

“What the hell are you doing?” Cadence yell-whispered.

“What?” Victor whispered back.

“Tell me what’s going on,” she said.

“Nothing. We were just hanging out.”

“Victor, please. What’d you do? Spend the night?” she said, kicking his shoes towards his sweater on the floor.

“So what? We used to hang out all the time and I would stay the night,” Victor defended himself.

“In her bed?”

“It was just where we were. Nothing happened.”

“I really hope you are telling the truth because if anything happened, I swear--”

“Nothing happened.”

“Nothing will happen. Ever. She’s  _ engaged _ .”

“Yes, I know. I was there.”

“We are supporting her in getting her fiance back from goodness knows where he is. He will come back and they will get married. He may be away right now, but her feelings haven’t changed. She chose  _ Eli _ .”

“I know. I probably know more than anyone that she will keep choosing Eli. Every time.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing. Look, I am not trying to start anything. I’m not playing games. I swear.”

“Alright. I’ll believe you. For now,” Cadence said. “But remember, when Eli comes back, that’s it. You gotta get over this thing.”

“I’m over it.”

“I don’t believe that for a second. Let’s go back out there,” Cadence said and walked back to the kitchen.

“Everything okay?” Emmy asked Cadence.

“Yeah. We’re good.”

“ Okay,” Emmy said, looking between them. “Pancakes.” She laid out the last plate and they all grabbed their own food. Emmy sat on the couch first, but Victor walked past her and sat in the chair across the room. She looked at him, but he couldn’t meet her eyes. Cadence sat beside Emmy and read over the list while they ate silently.

“These have nothing in common except being completely annoying,” Cadence deducted.

“What?” Emmy said, looking up from her pancakes.

“Well, I mean, I hate the Harvest Festival and so did Eli. Snowstorms and sunburns are annoying because they are uncomfortable. And, lastly, Victor who is Victor.”

“I resent that,” he said, pointing his syrup covered fork at her.

“Maybe they are all things Eli hated that he just wanted to shove in your face.”

“Why would he want to do that? It’s Eli.”

“Okay, well, this is also _Victor’s_ book. Maybe these things didn’t even have anything to do with you. Maybe when we get put down there, we aren’t even together. Eli could have found Victor first and just wanted to torment him.”

“That sounds awful,” Emmy said, pulling her legs up on the couch.

“You both had your feet wet. We must have been together,” Victor pointed out.

“And yours weren’t.”

“He could have separated you,” Emmy said, looking over at him, “from me.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him. That  _ kozyol _ ,” he said, under his breath.

“Vic,” Emmy reprimanded, looking off to the side at him.

“Sorry. He loves you.”

“Alright,” Cadence said. “This is an interesting enough list. However, it only teaches us one thing. Whatever is written in Victor’s book will still make it back with us, so he needs to be a better scribe next time. You got that?”

“I’ll try to remember that,” he said, getting up to grab his book. “I’m going to go home.”

“You sure?” Emmy said.

“I need a shower. Thanks for the food,” he said, setting the plate in the sink.

“You sure you don’t want to take some leftovers?” she asked, following him.

“I’m sure,” he said and went to the front door.

“I’ll be right back,” Emmy said to Cadence and followed him outside. She shut the door and leaned herself against it. “Victor, are you mad at me?”

“Goodbye, Emmy,” he said without turning around.

“I’m sorry for making you stay over.”

“You didn’t make me,” he said, turning around. His face looked sad. He thought about how she looked in the wedding dress. “I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at me. I had fun last night, but maybe there was some good reasoning behind Eli’s rules.”

“What?” she said, her face looked sad but her words sounded angry.

“Give up the innocent act, Emmy. You’re engaged to Eli.”

“If he comes back. We failed.”

“We will try again.”

“What if we fail the second time?”

“Then we try again.”

“Why?”

“Because you love Eli and I’m sure he still loves you too. No matter what.”

“How are you so sure? That list wasn’t entirely pleasant.”

“Because I can’t imagine how anyone could stop loving you.”

She looked into his eyes. They were brown. Too brown. Like if you kept looking at them, you might melt from how warm and inviting they were. Her legs felt soft and weak. She was glad the door was behind her to keep her standing. She thought about how he looked at her when she wore the wedding dress. He was looking at her like that now. Like she was standing on Pluto and he was on Mercury.

“I have to go,” he said before she could say anything else. She stood against the door for a moment, looking at the ground and trying to remember what breathing felt like. Then she walked back inside and fell to the ground.

Cadence rushed over to her and asked, “Woah, Emmy. What’s the matter?”


	16. Episode 16 - Феникс

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Она любит его! Она любит его!  
> Она несла его образ в своем маленьком сердце  
> И несла сладко и тайно спрятанную,  
> И сама этого не знает.  
> Но во сне он стоит перед ней,  
> Она умоляет, плачет и целует его руки  
> И называет его имя,  
> И зовет, она просыпается, просыпается и лжет пораженная,  
> И в изумлении трет ее прекрасные глаза -  
> Она любит его, она любит его!"

“Nothing,” Emmy said as she tried to stand again. Cadence lifted her up and walked her over to the couch.

“It’s obviously not nothing. Tell me what happened. What did he say to you?” she said, her voice sharp and pointed.

“Everyone needs to leave him alone. He did nothing wrong.”

“Emmy,” Cadence said with a sigh.

“I want things to go back to normal.”

“Eli will come back.”

“Yeah. Eli loves me,” she said.

“That’s right. And you love Eli, right?”

“Eli didn’t have drama. He was  _ nice _ to me. He was always there.”

“Yes. He was.”

“We have to go to work soon,” Emmy said, wiping her face, and getting up.

“Emmy, you still love Eli, right?” Cadence asked again.

“He was always there for me, and now he’s not.”

“He was taken. He didn’t choose to leave.”

“Then why didn’t he come home?” Emmy shouted back.

“I don’t know. Maybe we didn’t even find him.”

“We found him.”

“How do you know?”

“I know,” Emmy said and shut the bedroom door behind her.

* * *

They all were working the same hours as  Julia knew they liked to be, but in this case, it wasn’t what any of them wanted. All three quietly worked and they only spoke when they needed to. Victor manned his podium, keeping his eyes on his notebook and never meeting Emmy’s eyes even when she spoke to him. He couldn’t get this feeling of heaviness off his heart all night. He wrote in Russian when he was really upset. Tonight the writing was not only in a language only he understood, but it was also illegible, so he couldn’t even read his own handwriting.

Cadence walked around like she owned the place. Her anger and frustration was seen in the way her steps made the linoleum bend more under her feet and the way the plates hit the table with a little more noise than usual. Jenny was there with them and she whispered with the customers until Cadence shot her hard glares.

Emmy felt like her eyes were dry and hard to move. She didn’t want to look at anyone, but every time she had a moment of still, they would seem to drift in whatever direction Victor was. He never looked back at her, so she allowed herself longer glances than usual. His hand was going white from the pressure on his pen and his eyelashes sat stiffly against each other, only moving to follow the words being written across the page. She so desperately wanted to know what he wrote in there, but never was brave enough to ask. She had at one point thought he would show her when he was ready, but now she thought that it might be too late. She didn’t let herself think about what he had said to her. She only thought about what Cadence had asked her. She forced her glance over to her and Eli’s usual booth. There was a nice couple with a little kid eating their dinner. The kid played with his mashed potatoes and the couple talked without giving him a second glance.

“This is ridiculous,” Cadence said as they all walked to their cars after closing. “We can’t stay mad at each other forever.”

“Yes we can,” Emmy said, getting in her car and leaving.

“Okay, what the hell happened earlier?” Cadence asked but Victor wouldn’t take his eyes off his shoes.

“Just drop it, Cadence.”

“Are we still going back to the cave next week?”

“Of course. We do that for Emmy.”

“I thought you were mad at her.”

“We’re not mad at her,” Victor said with a sigh.

“We’re not?”

“No,” he said, kicking some rocks around.

“Then what are we mad at?”

“Me,” he said.

“She’s not mad at you,” Cadence said reluctantly.

“She’s not?”

“She defended you. Said you did nothing wrong.”

“That’s not true. I—”

“You care about her.”

“Yeah,” he said, his eyebrows pinched together.

“What happened last night? Tell me honestly,” Cadence said, taking a step towards him.

“Really nothing happened. We tried to go back to the way things used to be. Before Eli. It was impossible.”

“Yeah. She moved on.”

“Yeah, she did. She showed me her wedding dress,” he said, finally looking up.

“Was it pretty?”

“Beyond.”

“But?”

“But it was for him.”

“Oh, Victor. I’ve watched you for years with this. Maybe it's just never going to happen. Too much time has passed. Even if Eli never comes home, things are different. She left us for a long time. Maybe you need to realize that she is just a friend.”

“She is my friend and a friend deserves someone who will stick up for them. That’s why we keep going back for him. If he does come back, maybe I could learn to be nicer to him. Be friends.”

“That’s really saying a lot. You should tell her that.”

“Maybe later. I have to go home.”

“Night, Victor.”

“Thanks, Cadence.”

* * *

Emmy sat on her couch the next day in old sweatpants and one of Eli’s sweaters. The TV was on, but it wasn’t reaching her ears. Her head felt like a bowl of Jell-O. She had so many things to think about and no one to share them with.

Emmy didn’t like not understanding things. There were many things to not understand right now.

She didn’t understand why Eli was taken right after they were ready to commit to each other.

She didn’t understand why her life was so shaken up in the last few weeks.

She didn’t understand why Victor was so angry all the time at her.

She didn’t understand why everyone thought she was so naive all the time.

What exactly was she missing in this equation? Suddenly there was a knock at the door. She looked at the clock. 1:26. She rubbed all the tears from her cheeks and pulled herself together. If it was Cadence, she would have just let herself in by now and she really hoped it wasn’t Victor. She wasn’t in the mood to be cheered up and she doubted he wanted to even see her.

“Tia? Lily?” Emmy said, opening the door.

“We brought caffeine!” Lily said, holding up a drink tray. Emmy let them in and excused her mess. She had made lunch, but it never got eaten.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked.

“Well we haven’t just hung out in a while so we took off the afternoon and came to hang out with you,” Tia explained.

“You look like you need some fun,” Lily said, handing her a coffee cup.

“There’s four coffees,” Emmy pointed out. “Is someone else coming?”

“One for me, one for Tia, and two for you.”

“You guys know me well,” Emmy laughed.

“Okay, I’ll get right to the point. Are you doing anything Friday night?” Tia asked.

“I'm working.”

“Can you move it to the morning? We wanna take you out.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess I could.” Morning means not seeing Cadence and Victor. That could be good.

“Great. Because I want you to meet Todd,” Tia said with a wide smile.

“Who’s Todd?” Emmy asked.

“Tia’s new boyfriend,” Lily cooed.

“You have a boyfriend?”

“I didn’t know if I could bring it up because of the whole Eli situation, but he invited me to go out with some of his friends and told me to bring some of mine. This is the first time he’s showing me off, so I thought you might want to be there,” she said with eager eyes.

Emmy didn’t want to meet Tia’s new boyfriend or anyone for that matter, but just because her plans were put on hold didn’t mean everyone also stopped their lives. Tia and Lily still worked. They met people. They continued with their lives. Perhaps Emmy needed to keep moving too.

“Of course I want to be there,” Emmy said and tried to smile at her. “I’ll call Julia now.”

“Yay,” Tia cheered and sat on her couch.

Emmy went into her room and called about her shift. The girls made themselves comfortable in the living room and when Emmy came back out, they had pulled out yards and yards of fabric.

“What’s this?” Emmy asked, looking around the room.

“Project time. Everyone knows a special night needs a special outfit,” Lily said, holding up a pink silk to my chest.

“I was feeling a little bit down this morning--”

“Obviously,” Tia said, looking down at my sweats.

“Ha, ha. However, you know nothing cheers me up like a new project.”

“I knew this would be good,” Tia smiled.

“I actually want the pink for myself,” Lily said, clutching the fabric back into her own arms.

“You can have the pink, Lily,” Emmy said with a cluckle.

“I’m thinking something blue and flashy. Gotta look hot,” Tia proclaimed.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Emmy said and picked up a bright blue silk that looked amazing in the light.

“Ah, that’s perfect,” Tia gasped.

“What are you going to do?” Lily asked Emmy.

“Hm,” she said, scanning the array of fabrics.

“What about gold and some reds. Like a phoenix,” she said, picking out a few pieces.

“The master,” Lily said, bowing to Emmy.

Emmy laughed.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Tia said, her eyes wide.

The three of them got right into their projects. Emmy pulled out all her sewing supplies and covered the living room in all sorts of pieces. They got back into their old routine and worked diligently until Emmy’s phone alarm went off.

“Oh, I gotta get to work. You guys are welcome to stay. We can keep working tomorrow,” Emmy said, the flame of passion finally back in her eyes.

“Have a good night,” Lily said after Emmy changed and started heading out the door.

“Doubt it! See you later,” Emmy said and drove to work with a smile on her face. She went in in a rush and nearly scared Victor off his stool with her excitement.

“Feeling better?” he asked.

“Still not talking,” Emmy said, her eyes fixed on him.

“Okay,” he said, zipping his lips shut but then they smiled at each other. Emmy wasn’t ready to deal with him, but they both knew they couldn’t be mad this long.

“Emmy?” she heard Cadence as she raced to the clockbox.

“Hey, Cadence,” Emmy said, shoving her bag in a locker.

“You sound happy. Did you talk to Victor?”

“Nope,” Emmy said, tying her apron and walking out to the front.

“Alright,” Cadence said, taking a deep breath, and walking out after her. Cadence kept trying to talk to Emmy, but Emmy skillfully avoided all conversation with both Cadence and Victor. She gladly talked to customers and the other employees with much glee and excitement. Cadence tried to ask Victor about the sudden mood change, but he was just as clueless as her. The night was quick and they finished early, so Emmy got out as fast as she could and drove home, diving right back into her project the second she walked through her front door. Tia and Lily were passed out in the bedroom, but Emmy used the quiet of the night to perfect her sleeves.

* * *

Tia and Lily woke up to the smell of coffee and the sound of a sewing machine. They rolled out of bed and found Emmy in the living room, still working as hard as she was yesterday.

“Hey, Em. How was work?” Tia asked carefully.

“Went by so quickly that I don’t even need to acknowledge that it happened.”

“Okay,” Tia said. “Want me to pour the coffee?”

“That’d be nice. Thanks. I just got my sleeves  _ perfect _ ,” Emmy cheered.

“I’m happy for you, but you don’t have to rush. We still have a couple days.”

“It’s just that I haven’t been this excited for a night out in a long time,” Emmy said, trying her jacket on.

“It’s-- wow. A lot,” Lily said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“It’s the first time in years I haven’t had to worry about what Eli thinks so I wanted to go bold!”

“Right,” Tia said, setting the mugs down on the coffee table.

“What? Is it awful?” Emmy said.

“No, it’s fantastic. I’m just worried. You’ll be okay going out during all this, right? It’s not too soon?”

“Yes. Tia, he’s gone. I can’t just sit at home and mope. I need to get out. Have fun.”

“Okay, but it’s okay to mope. You were together for years,” Tia said.

“Yeah. You were like Paul and Linda. Inseparable. _Loyal_ ,” Lily said and the smile dropped off of Emmy’s face faster than an anvil dropping off a rooftop.

“Right,” she said, taking the jacket off and sitting back down.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just--”

“No, it’s alright. You’re just stating facts. I promise I’m okay,” Emmy said, trying to push that smile back on her face.

“Okay, good. We need to get going, Lil,” Tia said, grabbing her shoulder.

“Right. Back to work. We’ll see you Friday,” Lily said to Emmy and then started to gather her pieces.

“Emmy, please get some sleep. We need the face in the jacket to look just as amazing,” Tia said and got her stuff before leaving.

Once they were gone, Emmy cleaned up until the lack of sleep hit her. She passed out on her bed and woke up just before she had to leave for work. Another night went by without speaking to her friends, though her mood was back down. The odd sleep schedule was getting to her so she was pretty quiet through her shift. She went home and went back to sleep. The next morning, she got up bright and early and started work on the pants for her outfit. The joy of working on a project, especially for a good cause, would never leave her no matter how bad her life was. Fashion was her life. It was what she woke up every morning for. She only wished she could use her talents to help others. Suddenly an idea hit her and she pushed the pants aside to start a new project. She grabbed her keys and drove as quickly as she could to the fabric store, a flashy smile scaring the poor employees.


	17. Episode 17 - To Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "To know that I miss you  
> so much when you leave;  
> to know that I need you  
> like the air that I breathe.
> 
> To know that I want you  
> with a passion so blind,  
> is to know that I love you-  
> with no doubt in my mind."

Friday rolled around and after her shift at the diner, Emmy went right home to put the finishing touches on her outfit and waited for Tia and Lily to show up. She teased her hair, put on the brightest gold eyeshadow she owned, and covered her lips in bright red lipstick. She put on her outfit and then put the side projects she worked on into gift bags.

She heard the doorbell ring and her heart started pounding. She was way too excited. She threw away some last scrap pieces as she ran to the door and opened it with a huge smile. The girls stood there with their outfits on hangers.

“You’re already dressed,” Tia said.

“I had some time. I thought you could use some extra special attention tonight more than me,” she said, inviting them in.

“No, it’s both of our nights. Rising from the ashes, right?” Tia said, grabbing her hands.

“I made you guys something,” Emmy said and grabbed the gift bags. They opened them to reveal personalised embroidered berets that matched their outfits.

“Woah, this is cool,” Lily said, putting hers on.

“We’re a team tonight,” Emmy said, putting hers on.

“Thank you, Em. These are amazing,” Tia said and then went to the bedroom to start getting them ready for the night.

“Okay, Emmy. You do know we are going to a club tonight, right?” Lily said, rubbing the collar of Emmy’s button down between her fingers.

“Oh, okay. I wasn’t exactly sure.”

“I say, lose the button down,” Lily suggested.

“And wear what?”

“The jacket you made. It’ll look so great. You could add maybe-- ooh! I know! I saw the perfect thing to match when I was rifling through your closet the other day,” Lily said, running to the closet while Emmy laughed.

“This,” Lily announded, holding up the green cashmere scarf with gold embroidery.

“Oh, that,” Emmy said, her voice soft.

“No? I think it’s gorgeous. The stitching got a little wonky in the middle here but no one will notice,” she said, examining the ends.

“Yeah. I think it’s great,” Emmy said, trying to smile. She didn’t have any bad memories associated with it. She didn’t have any good ones either. The thing was a complete mystery to her, so there was no reason to deny Lily.

“Yay! Now take your top off,” she said and Emmy laughed. She removed her button down and just put her jacket on. She buttoned the bottom half with crooked buttons and then wrapped the scarf loosely around her neck. She put the beret on and look at herself in the mirror. Her loose gold accordion pants shimmered in the light. Her jacket fit amazingly and the scarf hid her lack of undershirt just enough to make it acceptable. She was comfortable and warm enough for outside but didn’t have so many layers that it would be too hot inside. Lily could be a genius sometimes, especially when it came to night out looks.

“The boys are going to pick us up, so I don’t see why we can’t start our night of fun right now,” Lily said and ran to the kitchen.

“How are you doing, Tia?” Emmy said, stepping into the bathroom. Tia had changed into her dress and was applying what she assumed was a third coating of lipstick. Tia believed that three coats was the perfect amount. One for a base, a second for vibrance, and a third for the permanent seal.

“Wow,” she said, turning around and leaning against the counter. “We look hot.”

“Yes, we do,” Lily said, handing us each a cup of something strong. “Drink up, ladies.”

“You’re insane and I love it,” Tia said to her and they all took a long swig. Emmy laughed and then the doorbell rang.

“Oh, god. I’m not ready. Tell them to wait in the car,” Tia said, freaking out.

“Will do,” Emmy said, setting her cup down and going to the door. Her cheeks were already getting warm from the drink. Lily really knew how to make a strong drink. She heard laughter from the bathroom and smiled as she opened the door.

“Victor,” she said, her smile fading instantly.

“Woah, you look amazing,” he said, completely shocked.

“Go away,” she said, going to shut the door, but he stopped her.

“Emmy, wait. I just needed to say something to you.”

“Victor, today of all days, I don’t want to hear it.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“I’m not mad at you. I just don’t--”

“I know you’re not mad at me. I’m mad at myself and I wanted you to know.”

“Great. Thank you. Now leave.”

“Emmy, what’s going on?”

“I'm finally getting a night off and I worked really hard on this outfit. I’m trying to rise from these ashes that my life is in--”

“You’re a phoenix,” he said, gesturing to her outfit.

“Yes. And right now, I just want to be happy and I’m not ready to deal with you or Cadence or Eli right now. I’m trying to learn how I can move forward, but I can only handle one thing at a time.”

“I understand. I’ll go. Have fun tonight, whatever you’re doing,” he said with a soft smile.

“Thank you. They are going to be here any minute so I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said.

“See you tomorrow,” he said and when he turned around, a car full of guys pulled up. The windows were rolled down and the music could be heard from around the block. The guy in the passenger seat waved at her and Emmy’s cheeks felt even redder.

“You really should go,” Emmy said, looking up at him through her lashes.

“Leaving,” he said, saluting her with a smirk and walking off to his car.

“Hey, who was it?” Tia said, coming up behind me. “Oh.” She saw Victor drive away and one of the boys started walking to my door.

Emmy cleared her throat and said, “Want me to tell them to wait?”

“No, I’m ready. I’ll get Lily,” she said and walked back inside.

“Hey, you must be Emmy,” the guy said as he approached the door.

“And you must be Todd. We’ll be right out,” she said, trying to pull a smile for him.

“Got it. I’ll be here,” he said and she left the door open as she went back for her purse. Emmy grabbed her drink and downed the rest of it before joining the girls in the car. The music could be heard over a whole city block but the noise was welcome to block out her thoughts. They got to a club just outside of town and all piled out of the car like clowns. Emmy was feeling so light and was incredibly proud of her outfit and so ready for another drink. The asian glow was already starting, but she didn’t care. She felt like she was on fire and it fit the theme for the night. They all made their quick introductions while they waited to get inside but the real tell of the evening was their drink orders at the bar.

“Scotch, neat,” Emmy said to one of the bartenders.

“Hey, mind if I sit with you?” one of the guys from the group said, sitting next to her. She remembered his name being something along the lines of Carson or Caleb or something.

“Make it a double,” Emmy said to the bartender and smiled at the guy across from her. He wasn’t terrible looking.

“Todd said you’re Tia’s friend,” he said, and then to the bartender, “Gin and Tonic.”

“The name is Emmy.”

“I’m Calum,” he said and she noticed how white his teeth were.

“Nice to have you here with us Calum.”

“I love this coat,” he said, going to touch the sleeves and brushing her wrist.

She stared at his hand and smiled up at him.

“Thanks, I made it,” she said, straightening her back.

“No way. That’s sick.”

“It is. Sick,” she laughed. They both got their drinks and then before Emmy could even take a sip, he was grabbing her hand and asking her to dance. She gave in, taking their drinks with them. The night went by with hardly any words. They didn’t need any. Emmy didn’t really want to get to know Calum and she didn’t really want him to get to know her. Eventually, they made it back to the group and they all talked for a while. Todd seemed like a great guy and he seemed to really like Tia, so Emmy was glad to give rave reviews later. Some of them went back to the dancefloor including Calum and Emmy, but soon Emmy was getting overheated so she excused herself to the ladies’ room. She found Tia in there, fiddling with her dress in the mirror.

“Hey, need help?” Emmy asked.

“Yeah. I feel like it’s all twisted around, but I can’t really see,” she said and Emmy moved the dress so the seams were in the right place. Dancing in a silk dress didn’t always work.

“Are you having a nice time with Todd?”

“Yeah. He’s great, but I’m still so nervous. I hope his friends like me.”

“They do,” Emmy said, pulling off her own scarf.

“Yeah? Do you like his friends?” Tia said, leaning against the counter.

“Yeah. They’re fun,” she said.

“How about that Calum? You seem to be getting along really well.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“I knew you’d like him,” she said, leaning over to powder her nose.

“What do you mean?” Emmy asked.

“Well, I just thought you were so sad since Eli going away and you could use someone to cheer you up.”

“Wait, you set him up with me?”

“Yeah. Was that not okay? I explained your situation and I told him he had to ask first. It was your call.”

“Excuse me?” Emmy spat, completely distraught and disoriented.

“I can tell him to leave you alone, but you looked like you were having a good time.”

“I--I-- oh, I can’t do this,” Emmy said, pushing away from the counter and storming out of the restroom.

“Hey, Emmy!” she heard Calum call but she pushed past him and out the front doors.

“Hey, I need you to pick me up. Beastface Club. Kingsman Avenue,” Emmy said after she rang Cadence’s number.

“Emmy, hey!” Tia called, running after her. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I can tell him to leave you alone. I swear. I just thought if I told you beforehand you might be too nervous and not come at all.”

“Tia, Eli was taken less than  _ two weeks ago _ . I appreciate that you thought you were helping and I might have lost my mind a little going into that club and thinking it would be okay to hang out with some random guy, but that’s not me. You know it isn’t. I was with Eli for three years and before that, nothing. I didn’t do flings and maybe whatever drink Lily concocted made me think I could, but I can’t. I have too much going on.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. Come back in. You can stay with me and Todd.”

“No, I don’t want to ruin your night. I just want to go home now,” Emmy said, pulling off her hat.

“But your outfit,” she said.

“Can be used another day. Maybe when I figure out where my heart lies, I can rise from the ashes again, but for now, I have to go home and think.”

“Okay, call us if you need anything. We’re here for you,” Tia said, putting her hand on Emmy’s shoulder.

“Thanks. Here’s Cadence,” Emmy said and jumped into the car with Cadence, waving to Tia as they drove off.

“Thank you,” Emmy said, her eyes focused on her lap.

“Any time. Now please explain the outfit and the attitude. You’ve been up and down all week.”

“Oh, it started as my attempt to get over Eli and go out again with the girls and ended with being thrown into a blind date and realising that I’m not strong enough to get over Eli that quickly.”

“What are you talking about? You are incredibly strong, but Eli was taken two weeks ago and he’s not gone. We’ll bring him home.”

“I know that’s the goal, but what if we don’t? I can’t just get my hopes up. Life moves on whether we are here or not and whether Eli is here or not. Even if he does come back, will things be the same?”

“Of course. You’re still engaged. He has to know that. Why would he back out of that?”

“I’m not the same girl he proposed to. That girl was going places. She was a grown up. Now I’m back working at a diner and going to drunken parties to dance with the first guy I see.”

“Emmy, you know that’s not true.”

“Yes, it is. I tried growing up and I couldn’t do it. Eli left and so I tried to go back to how my life was before him and that didn’t work. Then I try to move on and forget about him, but that doesn’t work. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Can I be honest?” Cadence said, glancing over at her.

“Please.”

“I watched you with Eli and what I think is that you need to stop worrying about what Eli wanted you to be and figure out what you want to be. You have some time away from him, so work on yourself and when we get him back, I’m sure he’ll love what he comes home to.”

“What I want,” Emmy repeated.

“Yeah. Outside of your relationship with Eli, what is it you want?”

Emmy thought about what she wanted before Eli. Emmy thought about what she wanted when Eli wasn’t there. Emmy thought about what she wanted if Eli never came back. She decided that she had loved Eli, but her life wouldn’t be determined by his opinion anymore.

“We’re here,” Cadence said, pulling up at Emmy’s place. “Do you want me to come inside?”

“No. I think I need some alone time.”

“Alright. Call if you need anything. Get some rest,” she smiled and Emmy walked back inside. She took her clothes off and hung them back up. She changed into her pyjamas and then tried to find something that would make her smile. She pulled out the puff sleeved wedding dress and put it on her dress form. Humble beginnings. She grabbed her sketchbook and sketched new designs till she fell asleep.


	18. Episode 18 - The Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "it's not the fall that scares me  
> it's wondering if you're going  
> to jump too"

The next morning felt long. Emmy didn’t have any work that day, but she knew that when six rolled around, she would have to head down to the beach and go back into a world of unknown. This time she felt a little less determined, but she knew she still had to save Eli and all the others trapped there. She spent the morning touching up some of her messy sketches from the night before and packing for the road ahead. 

Cadence was wrong; they learned more than one thing from the list. The list told Emmy that they could possibly be enduring more than one type of climate, so she packed for everything. She settled on wearing tailored 40s pants, a linen button down, and leather suspenders to the beach, and putting everything else in a satchel. She placed the pendant around her neck and tied a silk scarf around her hair. Emmy slung on the satchel bag and pocketed her engagement ring before she jumped in her car. No one discussed going as a group so she just assumed they would all meet there. She got there an hour before low tide but still found Cadence waiting on the beach.

“Hey, how long have you been here?” Emmy asked.

“A while. I came to get some fresh air.”

“Same here. Clear my head before whatever happens in there happens.”

“So, did you think a lot last night?”

“Yeah, I did. I’m going to keep trying to live for myself again. I made a bunch of new sketches last night and I’m really happy. A very bright fem collection. Might try to debut it as my first original collection. Put it in a portfolio. Start my own shop one day. Creating custom looks for people. I’ll probably be traveling to New York a lot.”

“That would be amazing. I’m sure everyone would be happy to support you.”

“Yeah, I might need some models for pictures. Think you might want to do that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not really a model,” she said.

Emmy pulled out her sketchbook and opened to a certain page to show Cadence.

“Woah, that’s so cool,” she said. It had a lot of bold prints and an outstanding blue overtaking the look, very similar to the color of Cadence’s hair.

“You kind of inspired me,” Emmy said.

“Aw, well you’re welcome.”

“I thought about what you said and although Eli loved me making this stuff for other people, he wasn’t so fond of me wearing this kind of bold style. My mother wasn’t a fan either. However, I thought about what I would do without thinking of their influence and I thought about how I was always impressed with your bravery to wear lots of colors and prints like this and I came up with a ton of ideas.”

“I think that’s amazing, but I also think you’re not giving yourself a lot of credit. Your bold sense of style was one of the things I liked about you when I first met you.”

“It was?”

“Yeah. You came in that first day of the diner wearing the craziest jacket. I don’t think I had ever seen a jacket covered in so much embroidery in all my life. Then you told me that you made it and I couldn’t even believe it.”

“That is a cool jacket,” Emmy agreed.

“You have a lot of talent and a lot of personality. You just need to let everyone see that. Let Eli see that.”

“Yeah, I’ll try.”

“Hey guys,” Victor’s voice came from behind them.

“Hey,” Emmy said, turning around, her voice soft.

“We still have a while till we can even go down to the cave,” Cadence said and Victor joined them on the sand.

“I can’t believe we are doing this again,” Emmy said, her eyes fixed on the horizon.

“We have to get Eli back,” Cadence said.

“And everyone else that was taken,” Emmy added.

They all sat in silence, letting the sound of the waves wash over them for a moment of peace before whatever was about to come.

“6:30 ,” Cadence said, and Emmy stood up first.

“Let’s do this,” she said and the others followed after her to the cave.

“Aerwyna . Are you here?” Emmy called into the darkness.

Suddenly a bright light filled the cave and they turned their eyes away. When the light dimmed, the same oracle from before stood before them.

“You have chosen to try a second time,” the oracle said.

“Yes,” Cadence said with a firmness to her voice.

“Beware the path ahead of you. Time is not what it seems and as your strength grows, his does as well. The risks you take will grow each time you come. Keep this in mind when choosing your path.”

“We will,” Victor replied.

“Very well. The pendants work the same and the same rules govern your trip. Place the ring on your finger when you are ready to enter. Take the ring off to return you and your companions.”

Emmy took the ring from her pocket and placed it on her wedding finger. The door on the back of the cave appeared. Cadence grabbed her hand and Emmy grabbed Victor’s hand.

“Together,” Cadence said, looking Emmy in the eyes.

“Together,” Emmy agreed and then looked at Victor.

“What are we waiting for?” he said with a smile, and they all stepped through the door.

Once inside, their faces were immediately hit with a blinding light and a wall of cold wind. Snow started to fall rapidly around them as their eyes adjusted to the light.

“Okay. Blizzard. Running theme,” Victor shouted over the snow.

“We have to move,” Emmy said, pulling them ahead. As soon as they kept a steady pace, she reached into her bag and pulled out the biggest coat she brought.

Thankfully, her friends also came to the conclusion that costume changes would be good to have handy. They bundled up as best they could as they continued searching for some kind of cave or town for sanctuary. Unfortunately, the snow just kept blowing harder minute by minute. The snow beneath their feet piled until it reached their ankles.

Emmy took a step forward and her foot hit nothing, sending her tripping forward. She screamed, but a hand caught her arm, pulling her back up. The minute she fell back into the snow with Victor, the snow fell to an immediate silence. The wind stopped blowing and the snow stopped falling. All they could see for miles was white expanse and a hazy fog.

Emmy caught her breath and tried to slow her heartbeat. Victor helped pick her up and then Cadence gasped. They quickly turned to look where she was facing and standing in the middle of all the white was a figure in all black.

“Eli,” Emmy shouted, barreling through the snow towards him. Eli made no moves to get any closer. She threw her arms around him as the other two moved closer as well. Eli raised his arms and grabbed Emmy’s shoulders, pushing her away.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” Emmy asked, her face glossed over in a state of shock and possibly some frostbite there too.

“I almost didn’t believe it, but here we are,” Eli finally spoke, his breath billowing in clouds like someone opening a sauna in Antarctica.

“We’re here to bring you home,” Cadence spoke up.

“I know. I appreciate the loyalty, but your effort is greatly misplaced,” Eli said to them. If the cold was already keeping them frozen, Eli’s attitude sure as much froze them even more. None of them expected this. Again.

“What do you mean?” Emmy asked, her breath so cold you could barely see any mist.

“I mean, I’m not going with you. Your memories were lost, but mine were not. I know for a fact that there is nothing you can do that will make me want to go back. This is my world. I’m finally happy. I’m free,” he said with a toothy grin.

“No, Eli. You were brought here. Taken from your home. Taken from your family. Taken from me,” Emmy pleaded.

“That is in the past. This is where I truly belong.”

“But you’re all alone. What about—”

“I’m not alone. Like I said, this is my world. What I say, goes. And since you three insist on not letting me move on, I am going to make sure you understand why I don’t belong in that world.”

“Eli, no. Eli, I love—” Emmy said, but he turned around and disappeared, “you.”

Emmy sunk to the ground, her knees wet with snow.

“Em,” Cadence said, grabbing her arm and lifting her to her feet.

“Emaline, we need to find shelter,” Victor said, grabbing her other arm and leading the group forward into the expanse of white. As they walked, they took in their surroundings. They could see small patches of grey rock to the side, a large mountain looming over them. They could see they were walking along some sort of ledge that got narrower as they went. The air was completely silent except for the whistle of a distant wind.

Suddenly Emmy stopped in place, jerking Victor back.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, turning around.

“I don’t want to,” she said her eyes focused on the ground.

“Emmy, we have to or we’re going to freeze to death,” he said as gently as he could.

“No, I don’t want to stay here. I want to go home,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. Her hands started to shake, but not much more than they had been since they got into the snow.

“Emaline,” Victor said, his voice nearly at a whisper.

“No,” Emmy yelled, her voice echoing, and she pulled her arm away from him. There was a low rumbling and then it grew louder and louder. They looked up and saw giant chunks of snow sliding down the mountain right towards them.

“Run,” Cadence yelled, pushing them forward. They started running as fast as they could, the snow falling all around them and rocks crashing into their path. Their grasps on each other were all separated as they ran at full speed.

There was a yelp from behind Emmy and when she turned to look, she saw Cadence on the ground a good space behind them.

“Cadence,” Emmy yelled for her and started running back towards her friend. The snow continued to fall down the mountain, a chunk hitting a cliff and sending a larger pile of icy snow right between them. Suddenly Emmy was being pulled back again and all her vision was replaced with darkness. All of the air had left her lungs. She wondered if she was dead, but then thought that if she was still unsure, then she probably was still alive.

The snow around her began to shift, light peeking its way in. Cold, strong hands pulled her and she tried to use as much strength as she had to help dig herself out. Finally she was free. Her and Victor’s breaths were heavy and strained.

“Emmy! Victor!” They heard Cadence’s voice from the other side of the snowpile. There was no path around it and it had to be at least five feet between them.

“We’re okay. We need to stay quiet. We’ll come to you,” Victor called across, snow falling around them once again, but the majority of it had already landed. Still, they had to be very careful about their volume.

“Hey, are you okay?” Victor asked Emmy. She was coughing and trying to take deep breaths. He rubbed her back as they sat on the ground. She caught all her breath and then took a second to grasp the situation.

“I’m-- You saved me,” she said, looking up at him.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Thank you,” she said and they were both silent, too afraid to speak. Tears dripped down Emmy’s cheeks but she made no sound. The cold froze them to her jaw and she sat motionless, staring out over the ledge.

“This was my fault,” she whispered to herself.

“Hey, no it isn’t,” he said, wiping her cheeks and pulling her close. He was shivering from the cold and couldn’t even imagine how Emmy was feeling after being covered in it.

“Yes, it is. We wouldn’t have been separated in an avalanche if I hadn't gotten upset.”

“Don’t blame yourself.”

“But blame Eli, right? Is that what you're trying to say?”

“No, no. That’s not what I’m saying at all.”

“But that’s what he said. This is his world. He put us here.”

“Emmy, think rationally. You know Eli. You were with him for  _ three _ years. You loved him for three years, right?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Then you know more than anyone that that is not Eli.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Right. So whatever brought him here must be using him somehow. Brain-washing or something.”

“Changing him the longer he’s down here.”

“Exactly. Now, we need to get out of the cold and we need to get back to Cadence.”

“Right,” she said, getting to her feet.

“We need to start digging,” Victor said, standing up. Emmy nearly lept to give him a hug. He laughed for a second and then wrapped his arms tightly around her.

“Thank you,” she said into his chest. “I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here.” She let him go and they both started to dig. The snow pile seemed endless and the further they dug, the less they could feel anything. They heard some more digging noises from the other side and sighed. They weren’t alone in this job.

“Stop, stop,” Emmy said, pulling Victor’s hands back.

“What?”

“Your hands are turning blue,” she said, holding his in her own hands.

“I’m fine. I’m Russian. I can handle snow.”

“You can’t keep digging like that. Here,” she said, pulling out a pair of her socks and tugging them over his hands.

“Smart.”

“You can’t lose your hands. You're our scribe.”

“We have to keep digging.”

They continued making the pile shorter and eventually they could see Cadence’s face.

“Cadence,” Emmy smiled. She held out her hands and Victor and Emmy each grabbed one to help her climb over. She landed on the same side as them and pulled them in a hug.

“Okay, is everyone alright?” Cadence asked.

“Fine. Cold, but fine,” Emmy said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Emmy grabbed her friends’ hands and walked on, away from the avalanche she caused. They kept silent the entire way until they came to a dead end. There was no more path, only ledge.

“Now what?” Cadence asked, her teeth chattering.

Victor looked over the edge and turned back to the girls.

“We jump.”


End file.
